Matches
by Sleepless Poet
Summary: Having reached the apex of her career after defeating Team Magma, May Maple is once again looking for fire in her life. Maxie Asche, on the other hand, has sunken to the depths of his own career and is as inert as the volcano under which he hides. Little do they know, the next time they meet, the friction between them is enough to kindle their relationship into flames.
1. Restless

**Author's Note: Hello, everyone! This fanfiction will be my first go at writing a Pokémon story, so I'm very excited about exploring this fandom. Mostly it has been inspired by nostalgia for the old games and immense anticipation for the remakes. As such you will be unsurprised to find that it incorporates elements of both games. The story takes place 10 years after the events of Omega Ruby, and it mostly focuses on the highly turbulent relationship between Maxie and May because, in case you haven't guessed by now, I ship them. So, without further ado, enjoy the story, and let me know what you think!**

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><p>Chapter 1<p>

Restless

"Each of us is born with a box of matches inside us but we can't strike them all by ourselves." Laura Esquivel, _Like Water for Chocolate_

_Why did I ever think it was a wise idea to date a scientist?_ May sighed, rolling her eyes skyward at the intense fluorescent lights of the laboratory ceiling. Rock enthusiast was a more apt description, but of late he had become a combination of both. Steven Stone, like the rest of the Pokémon world, had become ensnared by the mystery of Mega Evolution. Don't get her wrong, May was intrigued by the topic, too, and would love if one day her own Pokémon could mega evolve, but there was a line between interest and obsession, and she and Steven were on opposite sides of it. In the past four years, he had dragged her along to Kalos with him (which she wouldn't have minded if it had actually been for a _vacation_) several times so that he could meet with Professor Sycamore and discuss their findings in person. More often than not, those meetings saw May, frustrated, walking out to wander around Lumiose by herself, without Steven even having noticed. And if it wasn't that, then they were back in Hoenn, trekking through drippy caves (which was also fine, except Steven considered them _dates_), collecting samples, and picking up rocks. If she was lucky, and her luck seemed to be on an increasing decline lately, then they would do something fun maybe once every two months. Her definition of fun being battling, working on Professor Birch's brand new Pokedex, or exploring Hoenn, because May was absolutely not the lovey-dovey romantic type. All she wanted was someone to set her blood ablaze, so hot that it scalded her—that's why she loved Steven, or at least, she thought she did. He was that someone, when he had been the champion, before he got involved in Mega Evolution. Now that she had taken his spot, he had time on his hands, time to go chasing after the secrets of the Pokémon world that were supposedly locked within a couple of uninteresting chunks of rock. But not time for May. God, she felt so needy. She understood how much his career meant to Steven (she was the same way), but she had hoped he would at least try to make a little more room for her. Well, he _did_—he included her in all of his experiments and research projects—but that wasn't what she wanted out of their relationship. Science was not something she needed a boyfriend for, as she was plenty kickass at that on her own. No, she wanted a guy (or a girl, really, she wasn't picky) to ignite within her searing, explosive flames. What she got was meekly glowing embers that occasionally, rarely, burst into fire.

Still, all her complaining didn't mean she was ungrateful. Before Steven had befriended her, she had been in a jaded, frightening place, and he helped her out of it. She wouldn't quite say he helped her find herself—even though she had been pretty lost—because that was too dramatic and gushy. She knew who she was. He simply helped her accept that and work through the trauma of her precocious childhood. After all, it was because of him that she wasn't afraid of loving science again.

May spun around in the swivel chair she'd been rolling around the lab for the past five and a half hours. Tools such as microscopes, magnifying glasses, Petri dishes, chisels and assorted sizes of brushes, and reagent bottles with colorful sloshing chemicals blurred in her vision as she twirled. When she stopped, her gaze landed on Steven, all the way across the large room. She watched him. His back was to her, a too large white lab coat draped adorably over his shoulders as he leaned over the counter, peering down into a sample, hoping, probably that this stone would be the one that allowed him to see into the soul of Mega Evolution. He mumbled to himself frequently, as he did when he was deeply immersed in his work. Before he got to that point of no return, he would smile at May, explaining his work as he went, inviting her to examine and question, until he reached that place of concentration so focused even she could not reach him. He was beautiful, especially when he regarded something with all his attention, all his being, but more often than not, that something was a rock, not May. Beauty was beginning to mean precious little to her in terms of love; she would trade it in a blink for a relationship that was more meaningful. Perhaps they were meant only to be very close friends, as they had began and, seeming increasingly likely, as they would end.

Yawning, she stood from her chair and looked out of the wall of windows behind her as sunset came on. The sky bathed the grass outside in warm pinks, oranges, and reds, and May felt the urge to lay out under the sky again, as she had done so many times on her first adventure as a trainer. She missed that life of freedom, surprise, and adrenaline. Now her life was a stagnant pool of domesticity and complacency, only rippled into excitement every once in a while by a trainer who was lucky or competent enough to make it all the way to the champion. That was where the luck ended. She couldn't remember anyone even coming close to defeating her in all her years with the title. It was funny: May almost _wanted_ to lose to someone, because it would give her a rival, an itch to improve herself. There was nothing to do at the top except atrophy and wallow in undeserved self-assurance.

"Goodness, May, what time is it?" Steven exclaimed, happening to pry his eyes away from his work to see her staring out the window.

"About eight, I guess." Summer evenings were sleepy, though, and it felt much later than that. Why was she tired when she had done nothing but sleep in, go to lunch with Steven, and then return with him to the lab to watch him work the rest of the day? What happened to the tireless girl who had chased down Team Magma almost completely on her own? May prayed and hoped with all her soul that she would come back to rescue her from this pit of boredom.

He groaned. "I am truly sorry, May. Time has escaped me again. Why didn't you say something? Arceus, you must have been terribly bored sitting here this whole time."

She shrugged, turned away from the window, and watched him gather up his things, nitpicking his workspace sparkly clean. "I didn't want to disturb your work."

Steven pushed light strands of hair out of his face, revealing apologetic blue eyes. "I'll redeem myself, I promise." He smiled, holding out his hand to her once everything was returned to its proper place. "Shall we off?"

May took it, their fingers curling together, and they walked home under the stars, their shoulders and arms bumping together as they went. It was soothing and peaceful and . . . mundane, and May resented it. Not Steven, no, she could never hate him. Only herself, a little, for not appreciating the stability that most people could merely dream of having. She wasn't normal, and she knew that. Whereas most people hoped for a cozy home and a family, May wanted her home to be the whole wide world and her family to be her ever-dependable Pokémon. She wanted to always feel the promise of an adventure before her and the memory of an old excitement behind her. She wanted the sweat of hard work and exertion to press her clothes against her back and the sun to beat down on her forehead. She wanted _freedom_. That was the one thing that Steven could never give her.

When they got home, Steven seemed dead set on making up the less than stellar day to May. He dropped his bags in front of the door, and in lieu of them, scooped her up into his arms. She pretended to be ecstatic and surprised as he carried her to their bedroom and delicately lowered her onto the bed, kissing her, caressing her, loving her. Physically, her body enjoyed it, but to her mind the sex was as anticlimactic as the previous five and a half hours had been. The fire was extinguished, gone, lost and buried beneath a pile of stone, cold rocks.

She imagined that Steven fell asleep thinking everything was okay again. May laid awake late into the night knowing that it was not.

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><p>When she woke the next morning from a tossing-turning, feverish, elusive nightmare sort of sleep, Steven's side of the bed was vacant. She touched the sheets and pillows, and they were cold. Shrugging, she turned the television on and scooched back beneath the blankets, burying herself up to her neck. He was probably already at the labs, and since today was Sunday, what reason did she even have to leave the bed? Sure, there was that whole affair of attempting to track down and incarcerate Maxie, but after five years of searching unsuccessfully for him, she was starting to think it was time to give it up. Most of his low level grunts had been arrested long before, and now there were only a few higher level admins and Maxie himself remaining at large. Not a comforting thought, but if she hadn't been able to track them down even with the help of Brendan, the police, and Archie and the rest of Team Aqua, then what hope was there left? To be honest, ten years ago she hadn't expected it to come to this. Outside the Cave of Origin-that hellish place from which she had never expected to leave alive-she believed him when he said that he would work with Tabitha and Archie to atone for his sins. The League, apparently, had believed in him, too. They gave him five years to present tangible proof of having aided Hoenn in some way, and, if he did not, then there would be life sentences for all of the significant Magma members and up to 15 years for the grunts. Well, it had been ten years, shy some months, since that fateful day, and no one had seen hide nor tail of Team Magma. Both May and the League figured it was a safe assumption that they couldn't be up to any good. Though they worked with a vengeance to round up Magma, as they had promised, the most rotten apples of the bunch continued to elude their grasp.<p>

Sighing, May flipped to the news and listened to the steady drone of reports she didn't care about. Five years she had been eagerly watching the news, waiting for the story that would proudly proclaim that Maxie was finally in custody, but it never came.

Just as she was nodding off again, she heard a chipper voice sing, "Good morning, love," and in walked Steven, carrying a tray with eggs, bacon, toast, and apple juice. _Great, this scene is literally the epitome of domesticity._

But it was kind and thoughtful, and May smiled genuinely as he placed the tray on the bed and propped up her pillows for her.

"I was awake early, so I thought I would make you breakfast in bed." His cheeks reddened slightly as he said this.

"Steven, I don't deserve you." She laughed, hugging him and lightly kissing his lips. There was no fire in their lives, but there was love, and maybe she could learn to get used to it.

He sat on the bed beside her, frequently stealing pieces of bacon when he thought she wasn't looking. "So, why were you awake early?"

His whole face lit up, and immediately she knew it must have been something about work. "Professor Sycamore called at 4—time zones, you understand—and informed me that he has discovered someone whom he calls the Mega Evolution Guru. He hopes that the man will be able to shed much needed light on our research, and he has invited me to meet him. I'm supposed to leave for Kalos tomorrow," he said. "Would you grant me the pleasure of accompanying me once again? I promise I won't ruin the trip by working the entire time. We can go visit the Battle Chateau." He smirked at her small gasp of surprise, and kept grinning as he said, "I _do_ listen, you know."

May's face lit up. She couldn't help it; she found his earnestness endearing, if not cute. And the fact that he was making a conscious effort to take a break from work for her sake made her want to laugh and smile even more.

"I would—"

"Special news bulletin." Curious, May broke off, turning toward the TV as a news anchor interrupted the weather.

"One of Team Magma's former admins—he refused to reveal his name—has been discovered and is being taken into custody."

A clandestine video captured with a Holocaster popped up on the screen, and May put her hand over her mouth. "That's Tabitha!"

"Well, there's good news all around this morning!" Steven kissed her on the head as he went to take her empty breakfast tray back to the kitchen.

"Do you know what this means?" May asked as soon as he walked back into the room, bouncing excitedly on the bed.

"Do tell," he said. He slid back into bed, propping himself up on one elbow and gazing at her with his undivided attention. Like he did with his rocks. Just the thought made May warm and bubbly inside.

"Maxie and the rest of his admins must be near wherever Tabitha was found. It means we can finally lock up all of Team Magma! I_have_ to go find their hideout!"

Steven's face was not as supportive as she hoped it would be. In fact, he looked disappointed. "May, I know you've been restless lately, but chasing criminals across the region is not the way to change that."

She tried not to let her temper blow this conversation into an argument. "Maybe I have been getting bored sitting around all day at the Pokémon League, and maybe I do miss adventuring a little—a lot—but that's _not_ what this is about. It's about me and the rest of Hoenn being able to sleep at night without worrying about some eco-fanatics fucking up so badly that the nearly end the world again!"

Steven sighed, those crystal eyes narrowing ever so slightly as they continued to watch her. "That's not your job, May. It is the duty of the police, who are trained professionals. Do you realize how dangerous what you're doing is?" He lowered his voice. "Do you know how much I worry every time you leave on one of your escapades? Every time you're out searching for them, I think, what if she doesn't come home this time?"

"I—" Never thought about it that way. "I'm sorry, Steven. But I'm careful, and come on, if I beat Maxie into the ground when I was 16, then what do I, as the champion, have to fear now? Besides, if I finally catch him, then this will be the last time you have to worry." The last adventure. Maybe that was all she needed to be able to settle down. One last memorable journey.

"I'm loathe to admit it, but I do understand your perspective. Adventuring is as important to you as stones are to me, and I can't knowingly deny you that. However much I worry, my conscience will not allow me."

May's face broke into a grin, and she hugged Steven tight, nuzzling her head into the crook of his shoulder. "I love you so much, Steven Stone."

He chuckled. "And I you. I assume you want to leave as soon as possible in the likely event that Maxie decides it is nigh time to relocate."

"Maybe." She blushed, always both amused and unnerved at the way Steven could read her thoughts.

"Very well. My flight for Kalos leaves tomorrow morning, so I must prepare. I will be gone for two months at least, and I will miss you terribly, but I trust that will be ample time for you to conclude the case file of Team Magma and perhaps partake in any additional side adventures which catch your fancy."

She could listen to Steven talk all day. His words flowed together as gracefully and mellifluously as music, and damn did she have a soft spot for men who had a mastery of words.

He leaned away from her to rummage around in his closet, returning with a sleek black suitcase. He flipped it open, and inside the velvet plush linings sat a stone. It gleamed light green, mint colored, like Steven's hair and eyes.

"This is a Gardevoirite. You found this, actually, on one our trips to the caves, and only recently was I able to identify it as a mega stone. I had intended to give it to you for Christmas, but I would like you to have it now. Just in case you come into danger." He slipped the ring he always wore off of his finger. "Take my mega ring with you as well."

"I can't take that from you! It's too precious to lose."

He placed the ring on her wedding finger. "As are you. I pray you will not need it, but as a contingency."

Leaning down, he kissed her on the lips, and she wrapped her arms around his lean waist, pulling him closer to her. He tasted like the bacon he had secreted off her plate, with a hint of strawberries. They were in season now, and they were his weakness.

She smiled when they pulled away. "See you in two months, Steven."

"Farewell, May, love."

He left her alone to prepare for her own adventure; probably he was already off to the labs.

After she showered, dressed, and packed all the necessary supplies, she headed to her "office" (what had once been her bedroom before she and Steven started dating—long story) to try to pinpoint the Magma hideout's location. Tabitha had been found by surfers who reported seeing him riding a Lapras near the sunken ship, not too far from Dewford. But May had already checked that area, so how could she have missed them?

Unless, she realized, they had been hiding on one of the island chains too tiny to even bother putting on the regional map. She had to admit that it was a genius idea. Who would ever look for Team Magma in the middle of the ocean? Searching the internet for maps of the area around Dewford, she found that there were six chains of minuscule islands in the area around the sunken ship. That was doable for one person in the time she had, but she wanted to find Maxie as quickly as possible. Before he eluded her again.

May called Brendan on the Holocaster. "I think I know where to find Maxie," she said, skipping over pleasantries and even a simple hello.

By now, though, he was used to her blunt nature. "That's amazing, May! Where?"

"One of the islands around the sunken ship and Dewford. Come with?"

"I wish I could, but I'm very busy helping Professor Birch at the labs. We're studying the process of Pokémon evolution to see if it leads to any clues about Mega Evolution." Brendan groaned. "That means that _I_ am stuck training all the test Pokémon until they evolve."

She sighed. Mega Evolution, Mega Evolution, Mega Evolution. God, wasn't there anything else to talk about? "All right, Brendan. Thanks anyway. Tell the professor I said hello."

He waved at her, and the call clicked off. She dialed another number. A very tanned, very muscled man appeared on her screen, grinning broadly. "Well if it ain't my little scamp!"

"Hey, Archie. I've got some good news you might like to hear."

The sleepless lines under his eyes made him look a lot older than she remembered him. "I could use some of that right about now."

"I think I know where to find Maxie."

His eyes lit up and she heard boisterous laughter through the speaker. "That's my girl! I knew you'd find that bastard!"

"You want to be there when we catch him, don't you?"

Sighing and rubbing his head, he said, "Oh, May, you know how badly I want to see the police have his head, but I can't. We're stretched thin enough as it is battling some band of insane Pokémon thieves that keep popping up. I can't leave work."

"Dammit, Archie, you deserve to be there," May said. "Anyway, I'd hate to have to go alone, not knowing their numbers."

"Why don't you work with the police force? They'll be more than willing," he suggested.

"I hate working with them. They're too noisy and slow. No, I'll just find it myself, take the coordinates, do a bit of recon, and then report as soon as I can."

"Stubborn as ever. Well, be careful. I don't have to tell you how dangerous he is."

May shrugged and ended the call. This would be the first time she ever went looking for Maxie on her own. She was somewhat nervous, but she didn't doubt she could do it. They didn't call her the champion for nothing. Still, her left brain was strongly protesting that decision. She ignored it.

Before she headed out, she stopped at the Mossdeep City Pokémon Center to make sure her team was in good health and to stock up on potions, revives, full restores, and plenty of repel. Only in retrospect did she realize she should have bought an escape rope.


	2. Burned

**Author's Note: Just a warning, the story starts to pick up from here, so the rating could possibly go up to M, mostly from violence and cursing. Nothing too saucy right now. Yet. As always, enjoy the story, and please do let me know what you think. I will try to update as often as possible, but I am in school right now, so don't be surprised if I am a bit late every so often.**

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><p>Chapter 2<p>

Burned

May embraced the cool wind flapping in her face as she flew across Hoenn on her Altaria. True, she could have surfed, but time was of the utmost import in this endeavor. If she let Maxie slip away from her when she was _this _close, she would never forgive herself. The clouds above were thick and dark, sagging from the weight of their load. It wasn't an ideal day to fly, but it was a beautiful one for sightseeing. She only hoped that they made it to Dewford before it stormed. Electrocution was not on her itinerary. Looking down as Altaria descended in altitude, she saw the outline of dozens of small islands and the larger shape of Dewford coming up to meet her.

"Good work, Alice," she said, petting the Pokémon. "Just hover over the ocean for a second."

She unclipped her Swampert's pokéball from her belt and summoned him. He flopped into the water with a splash that sprayed both her and Alice in the face. "Give me a ride, Haruka?"

The Swampert stretched out on the water, inviting her to hop on. She nodded to Alice, who dropped her gently onto Haruka's back before returning to her own pokéball.

"Head toward the closest island, Haru." She held onto him with one hand and used the other to read the map she had printed off before she left. The nearest island, the northernmost one of the chain, was named Owasi, with a population of 50 people the last time the census was taken. It seemed a reasonable place for Maxie to hide, not too many people and close enough to Dewford in case he needed to reach civilization in an emergency.

But, nearing the shore, she noticed that there wasn't much of a place to hide a base there. The terrain was completely flat, with no trees, hills, or anything else to conceal a decent sized hideout. Still, she hopped off of Haru, returned him to his ball, and walked across the sand to where an elderly man was fishing in the ocean.

"Excuse me, sir." May held up a picture of Maxie. "Have you seen anyone who looks like this around here?"

He smiled at her in greeting and then set his rod out on the sand. Pulling a pair of spectacles from his breast pocket, he examined the picture. "That's that crazy young man from Team . . . Land, was it?" He said, stroking his short beard in concentration.

She had to try not to snicker. "Team Magma, but yes, sir."

"I haven't seen him, but, then again, we don't see much around here. Owasi is a quiet island," he said. "Our village chief takes frequent trips to the other islands, so perhaps he could be of more assistance."

It unnerved her how easily the general population was able to allow the horror of that near-apocalypse to seep into the crevices of their minds. They had forgotten all about the monster that had almost destroyed the world, and the sixteen year old girl who had saved it. She, on the other hand, was still having nightmares about it, ten years later. _She_ still woke up sweating, feeling like she was being burned alive. _She _still remembered stepping down into the Cave and the pressure exerting its forces on her, even with the Magma Suit. But, most of all, she still remembered her communication with Maxie, with the outside, being cut off when Groudon reared before her. She could never forget that sense of utter isolation.

Shaking her head to clear her thoughts, May bowed. "Thank you very much."

"You can find him in the largest cabin on the other side of the island."

She nodded, heading straight there. She made conversation with the other locals as she walked, and found out that they had all decided to make Owasi their home because it was fresh, beautiful, and away from the crowded hubs of Hoenn. It would be nice to vacation out here, but, to May living on an island of fifty people seemed too isolated for her tastes. She found the cabin easily, since it was a mansion compared to the rest of the homes on the island. A swing rocked slowly on the porch, squeaking whenever the wind picked up, and colorful potted plants hung under the awning. _Steven would love it here_, she thought. She tried not to miss him.

Just as she was about to knock, the door opened and a dark skinned, broad man walked out with a fishing pole and a bait box in his hand.

"Oh, hello. I wasn't aware I would be having a visitor today." He chuckled, motioning May to have a seat on the porch swing.

"I'm sorry for intruding—"

"Nonsense! We love to have guests." The bench wobbled under his weight when he sat down beside her.

"My name is May, and I've come here searching for the former Team Magma leader." She showed him the picture. "Have you seen this man, or anything at all suspicious?"

"Hm. I haven't seen Maxie, but one of my boys was the one who reported Tabitha."

"Really?" May said, beaming. Her investigation was progressing exponentially quicker than she had planned. "Do you know where he was headed or where he came from?"

"I'm not certain of his destination, but I'd guess he was on his way to Dewford. As for where he came from, he had been surfing northwest to get wherever he was going, so I would look at the islands in the southeastern part of the chain."

May pulled out her map, tracing her finger across the little blips that represented islands. "Those would be Kastor and Alyius, right?"

He nodded. "I went out in that area for some business about a month ago. They're both larger than our own island, so Team Magma wouldn't have much trouble blending in."

"Could you tell me about the terrain on each of the islands?" May asked.

"Alyius is a viable jungle. Once you leave the main shore, there's nothing but trees for miles. Kastor has little by way of foliage, but there is a lot of rough land. Hills, small mountains, cliffs. There's an inactive volcano on one side of the island, but that area is virtually uninhabitable. No one dares venture out that far."

_Gotcha, Maxie._

"I do believe I know where our criminal is," May said, grinning. "I am immensely grateful for your help. Really, it has been invaluable, Mr . . . ?"

The man stood, clapping May on the shoulder. "Please, just Ozzy. And no need to thank me! You're doing us all a favor by getting rid of those villains. Come back and visit us when you're not working, deal?"

"Of course." May said goodbye to all of the locals, and then hopped back onto Haru and sped as fast as she could to Kastor, excitement buzzing in her veins.

The further south she went, the further the island chains were spread apart, so it took her the better part of three hours to get there. Instead of shoring on the populated mainland, she decided to surf around the other side to see if she could reach the volcano without having to drudge across the entire island.

The mountainous mass towered tall above the island, but compared to Mt. Chimney and Mt. Pyre, it was barely a bunny slope in terms of height. If Maxie had made his base at the top, she would definitely be able to scale it with the help of her Pokémon if his grunts had blocked off the lift.

"Thanks for all your help, Haruka." May scratched the Swampert's stomach after he had put her down safely on the hot sand. He rolled over, and she continued petting him until he was content before returning him to his Pokéball.

She started to send a message to Steven that said, _Investigating Kastor Island_, but, worried they might be monitoring the electronic communications on the island, she erased the message and switched off her Holocaster. Then, she walked. It took two hours to reach the volcano from the shore; the first leg of the trip passed quickly, as the incline wasn't too steep. But it got worse as she went on, and eventually she'd had to start climbing to reach the base of the sleeping beast. As soon as she reached flat land again, she sprawled out on the ground behind some thin bushes, panting and sweating, trying to catch her breath. Arceus, she hoped they hadn't installed security cameras. That was a foolish hope, she knew, but she was too exhausted to be stealthy right now.

After a bottle and a half of water, she got to her feet again and explored the lower level of the volcano, feeling along the base for any hidden switches, traps, or doors. Thus far, nothing. Not even a sign of a red suited guard. But, May supposed, they were rather short on personnel at the moment. How many of them were actually left, she wondered. Ten, twenty admin, no more than a hundred lucky grunts, and Maxie? Either way, she wasn't expecting to meet much resistance.

She certainly wasn't expecting to bump heads with a red clad girl as she inched her way around the circumference of the volcano.

"Hey!" She shrieked. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

May smirked, unclipping one of her poke balls. "I'm here to arrest you and the rest of your washed up team."

"Haunter, go!"

May released her Sableye. "Frederic, use shadow claw."

"Dodge, Haunter, and use crunch!"

Her opponent's Haunter started charging at Sableye. "Do nothing, Fred."

The Pokémon looked confused, but obediently followed his orders. When their foe had gotten to point blank range, May shouted, "Frederic, shadow ball!"

Darkness erupted from Fred's hands and slammed Haunter hard enough to send him slamming into his trainer and nearly over the edge of the volcano. When she walked closer to investigate, she saw that they both lied on the ground unconscious. May returned her Pokémon to her ball, and, making sure no one else was around, traded her clothes for the grunt uniform the girl had been wearing.

She felt something jingling in her pocket as she started off again, pulled it out, and discovered that it was a card key. The entrance to the base couldn't have been far from here, then. Flipping up the hood, she nodded to a grunt standing by an M shaped steel door carved into the volcano.

"Aren't you supposed to be on duty?"

May coughed. "Some brat was creeping around the volcano, so I'm going to report it. I don't know where she got to."

He shrugged and didn't give her another glance when she scanned the card and strolled in the hideout. It seemed like ten years of secrecy had made them complacent. The old Team Magma she knew would have never been so lax, or so weak. _Well, guess I'm not the only one who's going soft in old age._

There was a sloping walkway lit by dim electronic candles inside, and it was so dark that she had to feel along the walls as she made her way down the ramp. Although the lack of light first seemed peculiar, she quickly figured out the purpose. Maxie was trying to keep energy use to a minimum, so as not to attract attention. May's ears popped several times from the changes in pressure, and she realized that Maxie must have constructed his base _under_ the volcano. How had he done it without anyone noticing the excavation? Efficient bastard.

The sloping finally stopped. May found herself in a circular chamber that branched off into eight different hallways, all identical with red tile floors and dark brown walls. Dozens of people passed through the connecting chamber by the minute, but most of them didn't pay her any mind. Still, it unnerved her that she had so greatly underestimated their personnel. What else could she have been wrong about?

_What do I do now?_ She knew that the sensible thing was to return to Hoenn and report the base's location to the police. But she wanted to gather more information. She wanted to explore and map out the layout of the base, get numbers on how many men they actually sported, their supplies, the weak points. And she wanted to find where Maxie was in this labyrinth.

"Rose?" A voice called from behind her.

May turned around, extremely grateful that the poor lighting in this place obscured most of her features. "Hey." _Wow, May, smooth one._

"Aren't you on guard duty?" The girl asked, taking May's arm and ushering her out of the chaos of the central hallway.

As soon as she released her, she backed away from the girl's peering eyes as far as she could without arousing suspicion. May didn't think that the girl suspected her, but in enemy territory, she could never be too cautious. "I am, but I saw someone sneaking around the entrance. They ran off before I could catch them, so I'm going to report it to the boss."

"Arceus, I hope the police don't find us before we leave next week. I don't want to be arrested, Rose. I was supposed to go back to _college_ before all this stuff happened. I was going to finally get my Ph.D and be a Pokémon professor. . . Now I'm stuck hiding here in this hell hole."

Hiding her shock, May placed a hand on the girl's shoulder. "Don't worry. No one would think to look for us all the way out here. It was probably just some nosy kid who wandered way too far from home."

The girl smiled and waved as she walked off into one of the hallways.

May had never considered that these people had lives before they joined Team Magma. Why would they give them up for this? Money? Power? Had Maxie threatened them? Promised them undreamed of fortunes? Shaking her head, she picked a hallway at random and started walking. She wasn't like Steven. She couldn't understand their perspective, and by now, it was far too late to try.

Doors lined both walls of the corridor, all of them closed, and closed they would remain unless she had the proper card key. Sighing, she turned down another corridor, and another, looking for any rooms that were open or stood out among the rest. None did, and she reprimanded herself for expecting Maxie to have neon signs and horns announcing "This is my evil office!"

Just when she had made up her mind that this entire plan was ill-considered and foolish and that it was time to skedaddle, she realized she hadn't the faintest idea of how to get back to the circular connecting chamber. She couldn't ask for directions; they would know immediately that she was a spy. She couldn't use her Holocaster to call Officer Jenny without being noticed. So what the hell _could _she do? _Dammit, I shouldn't have trusted myself to remember the way back out. _

Panic. What if she was trapped down here? What if someone found out? What if she wasn't able to fight her way free? What if Maxie discovered that the girl who had bulldozed his plans had walked right into his hands? What would he do? She shuddered at that last thought, desperately trying to reroute the grim course her thoughts were taking.

_You are the Hoenn champion, May. Don't just stand there like a deer, do something!_

But what? Maybe she could ask if anyone had seen Maxie lately. That was an innocent question. Yes, that was a good idea.

First of all, though, she needed to calm down. She would make it out of this situation just fine. And, besides, hadn't she said she wanted an adventure? Well, here was one, and all she had done so far was freak out. Show some confidence. She wasn't some over-ambitious, emotionally turbulent sixteen year old anymore. Holding her head up high and tightening the straps on her gloves, she started walking again.

She didn't get very far.

"Grunt!" A very commanding, very angry, very familiar voice barked.

_Okay, maybe it isn't him. Maybe he's just a pissy admin._

"Look at me when I'm speaking to you."

_Shit shit shit shit_. May turned around, pulling her hood down as far as it would go. All her maybes did little good in the face of the man before her.

Maxie.

Hard, brown eyes, stern lines chiseled into his face, the perpetual frown. He was the same as May remembered him, save for his change of outfit (a turtleneck, really?) and the addition of glasses. Save for the fact that May was more afraid of him now than she had been ten years ago. Why? What had changed? Had she lost her touch?

No, that wasn't it. She had changed, and so, she realized, had he. Their numerous encounters had taught her, the hard way, about the blacker, viler side of the world. _He_ was the one that bred her fear of science and everything associated with it, and it had taken her years to recover. Now that she was face to face with him again, after ten years, she wasn't sure if she truly _had_ gotten over that terror. He made her question her beloved rationality all over again. Seeing him sent her back to that dark, hellish imprisonment within her acute mind. And Maxie, he was affected by time, too. Even by just looking at him, she could see that he was less brash, his passion tempered by the decade. The volcanologist didn't seem wiser but rather, if possible, more intelligent, more manipulative, more shrewd. Oh, yes, he was smart before, and even back then she noticed that he knew his textbooks well, but he hadn't been quite the strategist that he appeared now. It was difficult to explain exactly, but she just _knew_ that he would be a more formidable foe now than the silly pushover, the pretend "villain," he had been ten years ago. Now, he wasn't a façade. He was a man.

Fingers snapped in front of her face, startling her out of her apprehensive contemplation. "What is your job, and why are you not performing it?" His voice was much deeper and richer than it had been. She remembered that back then, she'd thought that he sounded and looked like a harmless nerd. Not so anymore. Norman himself could not manage to rival that authoritative, acrid tone, and until she heard Maxie speak, she'd thought he was the best. After all, she owed her own sharp tongue to him.

"I guard the entrance. I came down here looking for you because I have something to report." She hadn't stuttered or froze up. That was a blessing.

Maxie shifted the tablet he had been studying into the crook of his arm. "Could it not have waited until the end of your shift? But very well. We will discuss it in my office. Come."

He walked, briskly, confidently, through the maze and expected her to keep up. That absolute assurance was new, too. The old Maxie had never seemed one hundred percent sure of his actions, like he questioned whether he was really doing the right thing. Back then, he had always called himself "The Great Maxie," as if it were more of a reminder of himself than to others. She almost lost him once or twice, but he would jerk her by the elbow if she was about to veer off in the wrong direction, snapping at her to pay attention.

He held the door open for her, followed after her, and shut it behind him. It locked automatically. May stood awkwardly in the center of the red and black room while he sat at a mahogany desk across from the door. Bookshelves filled every inch of wall space, and papers and four monitor screens cluttered his desk. The lighting was about the same as in the rest of the base, thankfully, but a lamp on Maxie's desk gave off extra illumination.

"Speak," he coaxed, when May allowed several minutes to pass in silence.

Clearing her throat, she said, "At 4:37 P.M. I noticed a disturbance at my post. I went to investigate, and I found a girl poking around the base of the volcano. It looked like she was looking for something."

"What do you suppose it is that she sought?"

"I do not know, sir. She ran off when I confronted her."

May's toes curled in her sneakers when Maxie stood up from his desk and began walking towards her. He stopped an arm's length away. "Where is she now?" He said, quietly.

"I don't know, sir."

"Don't you?" His eyes gave him away. They widened for a fraction of a second before narrowing.

May refused to take a step back. She would not allow him to trick her into betraying herself. "I assume she returned back from where she came. We would know if there was an intruder."

"Unless she used a key."

"Where would she get one?" May asked innocently.

"Why don't we ask her?" Maxie lunged forward all at once and yanked the hood down from over her face. "Miss May."

"So good to see you, Maxie, old pal." Her crude sense of humor also, unsurprisingly, came from her dad.

The redhead rolled his eyes but otherwise made no move. "To what do I owe the pleasure of having my headquarters infiltrated by the champion of Hoenn?" His voice toed the line between amusedly relaxed and furiously taut, wavering between the two so slightly that May could not tell which was his true mood.

"I just dropped by to bring you to jail." She smiled, her hands moving to the pokéballs clipped on her belt. "I assume you won't come willingly."

"Intelligent as ever, girl." He didn't reach for his own pokéballs. "I see you are anxious to settle this conflict, but save your saber rattling for the arena. Contrary to your misconstrued image of me, I am a civilized man, and we will not spar in my office. Put on your hood and come with me."

May didn't trust him, but she didn't have an option right now if she wanted to kick his ass and get out of here. So she played obedient little grunt for a while longer and followed him out of his office and down another ramp. Like on the first level, there was a circular chamber at the end of the slope, except this one only connected four hallways. Maxie lead them through the northern one, and they entered into a battle square. It was simple, small, but May felt at home within the white lines chalked onto the floor.

They took their places. The rules for the battle were the same as the regimen she used when training with the Elite Four: full team, no exchanges until the trainer's current Pokémon fainted, no items. May chose her first Pokémon and drew its pokéball.

"Miss May, before we begin, I advise you to consider that I am not the man you remember." Maxie unclipped a ball from his belt.

Oh, she knew that well, and didn't doubt that his fighting style had changed, too. But, there were some things, she assumed, that always stayed the same.

"Neither am I," she said. "I'm the champion now. Not a child."

"Lucario, go!"

If this battle was anything like the many times she had battled him in the past, then he would send out his Mightenya first. And she would be ready for him.

"Camerupt."

What? May was visibly stunned by his choice of Pokémon. Type matchups told her that she and Lucario were in deep, deep trouble.

Maxie smirked. "I did warn you, Miss May."

True, but she hadn't expected him to change _this_ drastically.

"Lucario, use—"

"Flamethrower, Camerupt."

"Get out of the way!" May shouted as flames exploded from the Pokémon's mouth. Even with his advantage of speed, Lucario just barely avoided injury. Maxie must have done some serious EV training with his Camerupt, because it had been nowhere near that fast. Not that it was in danger of out speeding Lucario, but precious seconds were shaved off of May's own reaction time, seconds that would have given her a much needed advantage.

"Use power up punch, Lucario."

He charged at Maxie's Pokémon, and just as it looked like Lucario's blow would land, Maxie said, "Fire fang."

His Camerupt snorted fire from his nose and clamped onto Lucario's leg with burning teeth, jerking his head from side to side to tear away his flesh. Not that it was necessary, as the fire had done a damn good job of that.

"Close combat! Aim for his face!"

Lucario lifted himself up from the ground, wound his arm back, and smashed his fists into the Camerupt's nose multiple times with lightning speed. The fire Pokémon released his old on Lucario, who limped as quickly as it could back to its trainer.

"Hang in there, Lucario. We can do this. Use aura sphere." After what had happened with power up punch, she didn't dare try close combat again. No, she wanted to keep Lucario as far away from that menace as possible.

"Counter with fissure."

The ground beneath them vibrated as Camerupt stamped his hooves, and a gaping crack ripped across the battlefield, nearly swallowing Lucario. May's Pokémon clung to the edge for dear life, struggling to climb out with only one good leg.

"Come on, Lucario! You can do this."

"Camerupt, magnitude."

Not just the ground but the entire room began to shake violently as it was torn apart by an earthquake. Rocks from overhead tumbled down below, creating craters and dust as they shattered. May had to cover her head until it was over.

Utter destruction greeted her when she opened her eyes again. Lucario had made it out of the giant crack in the floor before he fainted, but he was done for. May walked out out into the field to hug him tightly before returning him to his ball. "Forgive me, Lucario."

"What a disappointment. Your battling skills have deteriorated into dust," Maxie said, staring haughtily at her. "What became of that logical strategy you used to preach of?"

"This isn't over, Maxie." She said, sending out her Swampert who easily brought down Camerupt.

He smirked. "I concur. For you and your Pokémon, the agony is far from over." He tossed a new pokéball onto the field, torn asunder thought it was. "Shiftry, come."

"W-what?" May spluttered, "You never had a Shiftry. You don't even _use_ grass type Pokémon."

Maxie shrugged. "Perhaps not back then. Change is a magnificent force, is it not?"

"Enough of this. Haruka, use hammer arm." That would show his arrogant ass what she thought of his type matchups.

He smirked. "Grass knot."

_Dammit._ Haruka was heavy, and this was going to hurt.

Shiftry raced out in front of Haruka, before he could even land his attack, and tripped him up in a tangle of leaves and vines. Her Swampert landed on his face with a thud, just barely avoiding falling into the fissure.

"Now leaf storm."

"Haruka, hurry, you have to get up," she screamed, begging him to move before Shiftry could attack again.

Haru was on his knees when he was swept up into a tornado of thorny vines, tree branches, dirt, and leaves. When the debris from the storm subsided, he was unconscious.

"Fuck!" She yelled, then forced herself to calm down. She still had four Pokémon left. He had five at most. She had dealt with worse disadvantages. She would get through this. May determinedly ignored the voice that told her that maybe she wouldn't make it through this, being so out of practice. She had to believe in her Pokémon. They wouldn't let her down.

"You were brave, Haru." May mumbled as she clipped his ball to her belt and drew another. "Rin, come on!"

It was May's turn to smirk when Maxie beheld her next Pokémon. Rin was a Pyroar. He had been a gift from Professor Sycamore in Kalos. She'd raised him from the egg, and they had grown close in the short time they knew each other.

"What's wrong, Maxie? Can't handle a screwball?"

The volcanologist rolled his eyes. "Arrogance has no place on the lips of the losing party."

"Rin, use incinerate." She wasn't going to be the losing party for much longer.

Shiftry, as well as the rest of the room, burst into scalding flames.

Maxie threw another ball onto the field. "Blaizeken."

"A fire type against a fire type? Oh, Maxie."

"I may remind you that Blaizeken is also part fighting."

And Pyroar is. . . part normal. Arceus, she just couldn't win today! "How could you possibly know his weakness? You looked like you'd never even seen one before."

"That was merely a facial expression to delude you, Miss May. As for Pyroar's weakness, I myself have spent time in Kalos."

Rin didn't have a chance against a fighting type, especially since he was slightly weaker than her other Pokémon. True to expectation, he fainted within three well executed attacks. Tired of losing ground to him, May sent out her Gardevoir.

"Rei, mega evolve."

Her Gardevoir encased herself in a purple rock cocoon, and May's eyes widened as it began to glow. May had seen a Pokémon mega evolve only once, and though she had thought it was amazing, nothing could compare to the joy of seeing her own Pokémon undergo Mega Evolution. Fissures rapidly cracked open the rock, and Rei emerged a beautiful, avenging angel.

"Rei, use—"

"Blaizeken."

Maxie's Pokémon reacted with the stone set into his glasses, and he, too, mega evolved.

Forgetting her anger and all her other emotions, May focused on winning this battle. She could rave about how much she hated this man later, but right now she had to win. "Psychic, Rei."

Blaizeken keeled over in pain from Rei's invisible attack, and while he was recovering, Rei used extrasensory to finish him off.

"Mightenya, come forth."

May didn't even flinch this time. His whole party had been barrage after barrage of effective type matchups.

"Use dark pulse."

"Rei, teleport out of the way."

"Mightenya, use mean look, and then dark pulse again."

Her Gardevoire was trapped. She couldn't dodge his attack, and she couldn't teleport because of mean look. None of her attacks would be effective against a dark type. Damn, she should have trained for type disadvantages! When she was younger, she had all types of moves to counter disadvantages. Why hadn't she done that now? Man, she really had lost her touch.

"I'm sorry, Rei." May did not look away when Mightenya's attack hit, even though she desperately wanted to. Pushing back her sweaty bangs from her face, she sent out Alice. If she fainted, then she would only have her Sabeleye left.

She hated to give this command, but it was likely the only way she'd be able to take down his Mightenya. "Alice, use perish song."

Now she just had to wait for it to take effect.

"You must be desperate, Miss May."

She didn't grace him with an answer. He seemed perfectly fine with listening to himself talk, though.

"You may yield to me at any time."

May snorted. "Yeah, right. Alice, use sing."

A slow, sleepy tune filled the room, and within seconds Mightenya was snoring. When perish song took effect, Altaria dropped to the floor. Mightenya did not wake up.

Maxie sent out Golbat, and May sent out Sabeleye. Before she could even give a command, Golbat latched on to Sabeleye's leg with crushing force and flew into the air, hovering above the fissure that May had been oh so careful to avoid the entire battle. After putting up a valint struggle, Frederick fainted, hanging limply from Golbat's mouth.

"The battle's over. I get it. Just leave him alone!"

"I will accept your formal surrender now," Maxie said, "or you can watch your Pokémon plummet down into the magma chamber of this volcano."

"Fine. I lost." May would never let her pride overshadow her love of her Pokémon.

"No, do it properly."

"What do you want me to do?" May all but shouted. Hadn't he humiliated her enough?

"Yield. On your knees."

She didn't look at him as she lowered herself to the ground. She stared at his feet, too angry to look at his smug eyes, as she said, "I surrender to you. . . Maximilian Asche."


	3. Caged

**Author's Note: This chapter has a lot more of Maxie in it, but it's also a lot darker (and more violent). However, I am not a doctor (nor do I plan to be), so if I made any medical mistakes with the knife scene in this chapter, please feel free to tell me how to correct them. Any form of comment or critique is more than welcome, and as always, thanks for reading, enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 3<p>

Caged

Thousands of frantic, anxious thoughts flitted through May's head. _How could this happen? What do I do now? I can't possibly escape with all my Pokemon injured. I could use my revives and fight my way out, but Maxie would just beat me again before I could even leave the room. Damn, I should have told someone where I was. Why the fuck didn't I buy an escape rope? What's he going to do to me? When did he become so powerful? When did I become so weak?_

"I heard you're relocating soon, anyway, so what are the chances of you letting me go if I promise to stop hunting you?" It was half a serious question, half a joke.

His teeth showed, a grin of glory. "Zero."

"Thought so," she muttered, getting to her feet and backing away. "Well, thanks for the battle, but gotta jet."

"Come now, Miss May, would you rather take your chances with the grunts out there who have a price on the champion's head"—he spread wide his arms, but it was anything but inviting—"or me?"

"Definitely them." She was almost to the exit now, and then all she had to do was run and hope she was fast enough.

"I can be hospitable."

She found her back pressed against a metal door that had slammed shut over the entrance cavern. "No need. I don't plan on staying."

Maxie stalked forward, hands clasped behind his back, hiding Arceus knew what. A knife? A gun? "I insist."

Her entire body tingled with fearful anticipation as he drew ever nearer. When she'd said she wanted someone to make her blood boil, she hadn't meant _this_.

"I could run." He was still far enough that she would be able to skirt around him and (hopefully) dash to the door on the other side of the room.

"I could catch you."

May balled her fist, fixing her gaze on his ridiculous turtleneck in an attempt to lighten the situation. However, it was difficult to find levity in a sequence of events from which there seemed to be no escape. "Maxie, please—"

"I don't believe you're in a position to be making requests."

"Would you rather I make threats, Your Bitchy Highness?"

His lips thinned into a line. Perhaps sharp wit wasn't the best option given her present circumstances.

She squeezed herself as far against the door as she could, but it still didn't put enough space between them as he stopped only a couple feet away. _Be brave_.

He stared down at her for what seemed an eternity. Then, he said, "My uniform looks excellent on you."

May couldn't contain her snort of laughter. Was he hitting on her?

"However, I would prefer to see you in prison orange."

Nope, not hitting on her. (Did Maxie even like girls, guys, or anything for that matter?) He was dead serious.

She sighed in defeat. "You won fair and square, so it would be unprofessional for me to be anything but." May held out her hands.

To say he looked surprised wouldn't do the expression on his face justice. May took advantage of this, punched him in the stomach, and sprinted across the room with all the energy she could muster. She made it three quarters of the way across the arena before something snagged her by the collar and yanked her backwards with enough force to pop her neck. Then she felt herself being hoisted into the air and slung over a firm, warm shoulder.

"How the hell did you catch me?"

Maxie walked toward the door, appearing only minimally winded by the effort of chasing a young adult and carrying her over his shoulder. "Girl, how old do you think I am?"

"Too old for running, that's for damn sure."

She felt his chest move as he sighed. "I am thirty-five."

"_Really_? You must have so many frown lines that I thought you were sixty."

"It would be a grave mistake on your part to think that I'm above dropping you into the heart of this volcano."

May couldn't tell if he was being serious or if he was teasing her. He was far removed from the Maxie she remembered, and she didn't want to take her chances. "What are you even going to do with me?" She wondered aloud.

"I am undecided."

As he walked toward the exit, one of his hands pressed down on her back, more to keep her from going anywhere than falling off, but she found that she could still move her arms. She wiggled her right one around until she managed to reach her back pockets, and then she slipped her hand inside and nimbly pulled out a small switchblade. The thought of stabbing someone made her stomach churn, but it was by far better than enduring whatever torture Maxie planned to put her through.

_Escape now, have moral qualms later._

Gritting her teeth, May raised the blade and plunged it into the flesh of Maxie's arm before he could notice what was going on, before she lost her resolve. He gasped out expletives, and May did, too, when his arm instinctually let go of her and sent her toppling off of his shoulder. She rolled with the momentum to cushion her fall and quickly stumbled to her feet. That small blade wasn't going to incapacitate him for long. She started running. Seconds later, her heart jolted at the sound of footsteps pounding behind her, but she didn't look back.

"_Fool_," Maxie snarled.

Any snarky comment on May's lips swiftly turned into screams when she felt an intense sting in the back of her knee. Between the shock that threw her off balance and the pain, she tripped over her legs, skinning her right arm against the concrete as she tried to break her fall. With her legs splayed out beneath her, she could clearly see the cause of her pain.

The same switchblade she had thrown at Maxie was now lodged in the back of her leg. She tried to stand before he made it to her, but he was faster. One of his boots came down on her knee, smacking it into the ground and driving the blade deeper into her leg. If May screamed again, she couldn't hear it over the blood pressure roaring in her ears. If Maxie smiled at her pain, she couldn't see it through the warm tears brimming in her eyes.

"Now," Maxie said, "you can come along peaceably, or you can discover how much force it requires to drive that blade through your knee."

Taking shallow, labored breaths, hiccupping back more tears, May was too exhausted to speak. She shook her head.

"What was that?" The sole of his boot wavered menacingly in the space above her knee, a very clear warning.

"No," May slurred, spitting out the tears that flowed into her mouth. "I'm not giving in to a bastard like you."

Maxie's foot came down again, pushing her wounded knee almost parallel to the ground, to the point where most of the short blade was no longer visible, embedded in her flesh. May's hand flew to her mouth, unsuccessfully choking back curses as she curled in on herself from the pain. If he pushed the blade any deeper in, it would probably require surgery to remove.

Lifting his foot, he said, "Well?"

Having grown up with Norman Maple for a father, May always knew when to admit that she was beat. There was a grave difference between her dad and Maxie, though. The latter had no moral problem with driving her beyond her breaking point.

The bloodied elbow that she had been supporting herself on gave out from fatigue. She let herself slump on the ground. "I'll come," she mumbled, closing her eyes, "just stop."

She felt his arms underneath her as he lifted her up again, and this time, she didn't protest. She was too focused on trying to ignore the sharp throbbing of her left leg to muster up any of her hatred for the man. Well almost.

"I knew you would come to see reason," he said smugly.

"Don't you _dare_ talk to me about logic." May hissed.

He had _no_ place to call the corrupted manipulation he employed any form of logic, and if she weren't feeling as though she was constantly on the brink of slipping into unconsciousness, she would tell him so. Instead, she tuned out the hell around her and concentrated on coping with the pain. If any of the grunts they passed in the hall wondered why their boss was carrying a girl on his shoulder, their questions were shot down by a steely glare from Maxie. From what she could tell in her trancelike state, they went down two more floors and ended up in an immense ward. They passed dozens of personal patient rooms, all outfitted with at least basic medical equipment, as well as several more specific stations, including rooms with X-Ray machines and MRIs. He carried her into one of the many vacant patient rooms, set her down on the hospital bed, and then strapped her wrists and ankles down. The horror of her situation began to awaken May from her state of half-sleep.

"What do you think you're doing?" She demanded, straining her neck to watch his movements about the room.

He rolled up his sleeves, and not long after, she heard water running from somewhere off to her right. "Treating my wound while minimizing the risk of being _stabbed_ again," he snapped.

Well, at least he wasn't planning on experimenting on her. May calmed down a little. "Friendly reminder that I am the one with a good part of a switchblade lodged in the back of my knee."

The water shut off, and he appeared in her line of sight again, wrapping a strip of gauze around his upper arm. "And whose fault is that?" He disappeared across the room again, rummaging through cabinets from the sound of it.

"Gee, I don't know," May said, "maybe the man who hurled a knife at me? Just a guess." _Arceus, I really wish I had listened to Dad when he tried to teach me to hold my tongue. Around this testy bastard, it's going to wind up getting me killed. _

"Incorrect." Maxie undid the restraints on her injured leg, propped it up, and cut away the bloodied fabric surrounding the wound. "The base of the blade is still attached, so removal will be no issue."

"Wait." May stopped him as he was putting on a pair of gloves. "Aren't you going to sedate me or something?"

He looked like he could laugh. "You forget, Miss May, you are a prisoner, not a patient."

Closing her eyes, she gritted her teeth. "Get it over with."

There was as much screaming (from May's end) as there was blood. The bright red dripping down his gloves made her want to wretch, but she couldn't close her eyes. To let her guard down around him would be akin to death.

Once the blade was removed, Maxie washed and bandaged the wound, as well as the wounds on her elbow, and gave her pain killers, a surprisingly generous action. By the time they had both been patched up, May's obstinacy returned, full swing. She insisted on walking on her own this time, and Maxie didn't protest. When she swung her legs down over the side of the bed and put pressure on her bad leg, it immediately gave out beneath her.

Sighing, Maxie helped her up, allowing her to lean against him as he led her, limping, back out of the ward. "One day you will learn," he said.

"Learn what?"

"The cost of staunch independence."

_There he goes again, treating me like a child. The exact same as ten years ago. For Arceus' sake_, _I am_ twenty-six _now. _

May disregarded his comment, so their walk dipped into silence. They went another two floors down, leaving May to wonder about their next destination. She tried to commit as much of the base's layout to memory as possible, but her efficacy was severely hindered by both her own weariness and the effects of the pain medication. When Maxie turned down a hallway that was lined with electrical force fields for doors, May's heart dropped to the floor and was squished under foot. She was going to rot in here.

"You seem nervous, Miss May." He deactivated the force field and none too gently set her down inside the cell. As if that weren't bad enough, he chained her hands and ankles together, his slender fingers burning her with their touch.

"You..." She snarled, but as he backed away and prepared to leave, her anger turned into fear. She knew he noticed because he grinned at her terror.

As he reactivated the electrical field, he said, "Perhaps if you beg me, I will return tomorrow."

"Please." May whispered. Her voice was docile, unlike the confident, steady woman she had been hours ago.

Maxie arched an eyebrow.

"Please," she continued, "fuck yourself. Arceus knows no one else will. No, seriously, maybe it will help get that stick out of your ass."

She laughed at the bemused look on his face and kept laughing when left the dungeons.

* * *

><p>Groaning heavily once back in the safe haven of his office, Maxie crossed the room quickly and slumped into his desk chair, taking off his glasses. Today's events had veered drastically from what he had planned. This morning he had been alerted that his best admin, Tabitha, was apprehended on his way to procure supplies in Dewford. His loss weighed heavily on their already dwindled numbers, and it also meant that they would have to relocate to avoid discovery. That plan was set in motion and had been going according to schedule when Miss May, the cause of all his frustration, humiliation, and suffering, had literally been dropped into his hands. The battle went as well as he had hoped (but not anticipated), and now he had the pleasure (nuisance) of having his nemesis locked in his dungeons. At any other time, he would have delighted in that devious twist of fate, but right now he was busy enough as it was without adding tormenting his enemy to his to-do list.<p>

She was just as snarky as he remembered, but the last time they had met she had not had such a colorful vocabulary. _Fuck yourself. Arceus knows no one else will_. In the confines of his office, his sanctuary, he allowed himself to snicker. Maxie was aware that he was exameters away from being what one would consider an ideal bachelor, and he was glad of it. The last thing he wanted was an irritating woman at his side. And besides, he preferred mental relationships to physical, and, as he had realized long ago, it was highly improbable that any creature would feel the same. So love was off the table for him, thanks. Crime syndicate leader was plenty enough work for him already.

He tried to get his mind off of her, he really did, but what was he supposed to _do_ with her? Ransom her back? No, he didn't need any more money. Perhaps he could trade her in exchange for a pardon, but he doubted it. He had never been very keen on the idea of murder, though at times she drove him to regret that view. How could he profit the most out of this situation? How could he cause her as much hardship as she had caused him? Who did she care about? What did she love? What would obliterate her spirit?

Revenge, as always, was an alluring option, but he could not help but wonder if he still had it in him to pursue such a course after having ignored the notion for all these years. That, that decision was a battle to be waged between his passion and his rationality, and the outcome of such a war was uncertain even to him. Such had always been the case. In his youth, the former had always been victorious, but now he could not deny that his logos was a formidable foe.

Well, he needn't decide tonight. Miss May was at the mercy of his schedule now, and she would have to wait. Learning a little patience would do her good. Maxie looked at his watch. 9:46. He pressed the intercom button on his desk.

"Staff meeting in Conference Hall 1 at 9:55. Do _not _be late," he snapped. Usually he wasn't quite so testy with his employees, but today had been a trying one. All he wanted was sleep, and he knew that because he desired it he would not have it. So, he worked well into the night.

* * *

><p>May couldn't sleep. Of course she couldn't. If she laid down, then she wouldn't be able to get herself back up, thanks to these stupid chains. So, she stared at the wall and listened to the chug of her endless thoughts well into the night.<p>

Now that she didn't have to pretend to be brave anymore, she would admit it: at first, she was truly scared. Steven would be in Kalos for two months, and he wouldn't notice her absence until then. Archie and Brendan knew her general location, but even if they knew she was in need of help this very instant (which they didn't), it would take them at least a few weeks to thoroughly investigate all six of the island chains without the information Ozzy had given her. She got so scared that she went numb. Every time she thought of Maxie, she would shudder, her stomach would churn, and her eyes would sting. She wasn't afraid of _Maxie_. She was afraid of what he could and would do to her. He would make her ache as much as he had when she destroyed his dreams. He would burn everything she loved and leave her heart a scorched, barren wasteland. He would make her as empty as him. And she would be helpless to stop him.

May stifled a sob. When the numbness left, next came regret. All the things she should have done differently, but mostly the things she should not have done at all. _Steven warned you. You didn't listen. You even told yourself this was a bad idea!_

Then came the waking nightmares and the anxiety she thought she had gotten rid of long ago. She thought she heard footsteps coming down the hall, and oh, God, Maxie was coming for her. Her heart whirled and she couldn't breathe or move and she started panicking and she couldn't even hear the footsteps over her own terror. She sat there, helplessly gaping, for an agonizing eternity, but slowly her breath returned, leaving her throat dry and her lungs exhausted.

After that, there was nothing. She stared at the wall until the electronic candles in the hall automatically shut off and left her blind. She kept staring, and at some point she must have closed her eyes without noticing because either way all she saw was darkness.

May didn't know what time it was when she woke up again. It must have been very early in the morning because the lights still hadn't come back on yet. She used the time to try to find some peace with her situation. This was to be a race of endurance, and May couldn't afford to let her worries fatigue her so soon into the marathon.

She closed her eyes and imagined she was back at home with Steven, both of them curled up in bed together. Morning rays of sunlight sparkled in through the curtains, and a warm breeze flowed from the open windows. The bed smelled like dryer sheets and Steven's earthy cologne. May laid her head on Steven's bare chest, and he wrapped his arms around her. Her legs draped over his, both of their limbs tangled and toasty, like blankets just out of the dryer. They lay there in blissful silence for a while, then Steven chuckled and rolled them so that he was on top. He held her wrists loosely in his warm hands, ghosting his fingertips over them. "Steven, stop," she muttered. "I'm still tired after last night."

"I am curious, Miss May. What happened last night?"

May's eyes sprung open in utter mortification. Maxie was crouched in front of her, unlocking the chains on her hands and examining her wrists. She was even more horrified to realize that the touches on her wrists she felt had been Maxie. In fact, she wanted to vomit, and perhaps she would have if he had fucking fed her.

She looked away from his pervasive, mocking gaze, but not soon enough to hide the red that filled her face.

"I can't help what I dream." She grumbled, snatching her wrists from his hands.

"You love Steven Stone? Fascinating."

She saw the plan as it was being schemed behind his hard brown eyes, and before it could fully form itself, she blurted, "I don't care what you do to me, but if you lay a hand upon him, I will end you."

Of course, she was in no position to do so.

"How do you intend to make good on that threat, from the confines of your cell?" He asked, head tilted slightly in a mocking taunt, eyes invasive with curiosity.

May returned eye contact with a steady gaze, though internally she felt anything but. Unsettled, outmatched, helpless. "You'll know," she said. _As soon as I do._

"You shall have neither opportunity nor need to execute such a threat."

"What," May snorted, "you mean you, the crime syndicate leader, aren't planning anything devious?"

His attention was probing, trying to catch hold of May's mind, trying to manipulate her. "I am no murderer, Miss May."

"And why should I believe anything that comes out of your filthy fucking mouth?" She curled her hands to resist the urge to lash out at him. Maybe if she swung her chains at his head it would knock him unconscious.

"Because, considering I have consummate control of your life, your sanity, and your future, you should take my word as gospel." His lips curved, tipping May off to his sarcasm. He was kidding, but he wasn't. For now, at least, he _did_ have her at his mercy. "No, you seem to think yourself intelligent, so why don't you rely upon your reason to lead you to the answer?"

_Because that's what you want me to do. Because you are a deceiving, conniving, manipulative spider in the center of a web. Because you're the type of snake to find enjoyment in giving me a noose and beguiling me into hanging myself!_

"Why are you here?" May said, flatly.

"Breakfast," he said.

Maxie presented her with a tray that had been previously obscured from her line of sight. Yesterday she'd had breakfast in bed. Today, breakfast in a cell. Oh, how the mighty had fallen.

Rubbing her sore wrists, she picked up her fork (plastic, _of course_) and started eating. Whoever cooked it was no Siebold, but it wasn't awful. May was halfway done with her plate when she noticed that Maxie had not left. He stood on the other side of the electrical field, staring at her.

"I'm positive that you didn't come down here to personally deliver my meal, so why are you still here?" Gone, she wished him gone! She tired of his ceaseless prowling. If he wanted revenge, why didn't he take it, why did he wait?

"How is your leg?" He said.

"Best discerned by an actual doctor and as such no business of yours. _Why are you here?_" May hissed.

"Do you find my presence disconcerting?" There they were again, those penetrating glances, so dark, so ensnaring.

Goose flesh prickled on May's arm and her stomach did a belly flop. She gave up trying to pry any information out of him and instead answered one of his own questions. "As if you could ever frighten me." She hoped that he never decided to test her on that bluff. "Besides, it doesn't matter. Steven and a police force are coming to demolish you and the rest of your team."

The redheaded man didn't so much as blink. "Is that so? And how does he know your location?"

"I sent him the coordinates before I snuck in." Sometimes May wondered if she should be worried that lying came so easily to her.

"I monitor all communications on this island," he said. "Lying will do nothing to improve your situation, Miss May."

May's shoulders slumped in disappointment. Arceus, this infuriating man was steps of ahead of every scheme she tried!

"I do not doubt that very soon someone will notice you are missing, but by that time we will be long gone. They may find this base, but they will not find you." Maxie's voice was hollow, cold, and cruel.

"They'll scour Hoenn looking for me, and they'll find me just like I found you," she said, narrowing her eyes at him. "I'm _going_ to get out of here, and for all your logic you are damn stupid if you think you can keep me."

His fingers brushed her wrists again as he put her manacles back on. "Perhaps you should have considered that before you self-assuredly sauntered into my hands, Miss May. In my hands you have trapped yourself, and in my hands you will stay."

He snatched up the food tray, activated the electrical barrier, and was gone.

May closed her eyes and went back to her dreams of Steven. They quelled her raging emotions, and she smiled at the irony. When she had been with Steven, she hated how he soothed her. Now that she was at the emotional (and mental and physical) mercy of the Magma leader, she wanted nothing more than for the rock enthusiast to rub her back and babble on about stones and kiss her with his strawberry flavored lips. She dreamed of all this, but at some point their home morphed into an underground lair through which she ran like hell to escape. Every time, she would unwittingly run straight into Maxie's arms, and she would hear the last words of their conversation, the death knell of her freedom. Then she would jolt awake, and the cycle would begin again.

_In my hands you have trapped yourself, and in my hands you will stay._

* * *

><p>Only now that preparations for their relocation were complete would he allow himself to guiltlessly think about her.<p>

He knew he had frightened her. Late last night while finishing up his paperwork, he saw her sobbing on the surveillance cameras. She put on a brave mask this morning, but how many more mornings would she be able to shield herself behind it before it began to whittle away? If revenge was truly what he sought (did he?), then that wasn't enough. She was a selfless girl, and she placed her heart in others. He was loathe to involve anyone else when her qualms were with her alone, but it couldn't be helped. If he wanted to burn her, he would have to go after those to whom she had entrusted her heart.

Steven Stone. Brendan, that equally meddlesome boy who had sometimes shown up in the nick of time to help, just when it appeared that Maxie might actually beat her. The list of those she intimately (whether platonically or romantically) loved could not have been very long, but he wanted to be certain that he tracked down every single one of them. He would leave no vein of her heart untainted.

Where, where had this surge of passion come from? This base sentimentality had been silent, dead, he thought, for years, so why flare _now_? And why was it so conflicted? Part of him wanted to see May Maple bleed. The other part. . .? There was a hypothesis, but experimentation was necessary.

He would find a way to strangle these feelings yet, and in his endeavors to do so he turned to the one thing left to him: science.

A light knock on his door disturbed his churning thoughts. Sighing, Maxie reached for his glasses, straightened his jacket, and rose to his full height. He always preferred to be standing in his interactions with others.

"Come." Maxie remotely deactivated the lock on his door.

Another of his admins, Sasha, came in. "Report for you, sir."

"Proceed."

"All of the information that we have collected has been stored and backed up on external drives, and every computer has been wiped, save for yours of course. The base has been cleaned, and tomorrow we will wipe it down as thoroughly as possible to eliminate any evidence."

Maxie nodded, pleased by the progression of things. "And our new location?"

"The grunts you sent over are working on getting it up and running as we speak. They say if should be ready by the end of the week, which, if all goes according to schedule, is when we'll be ready to leave."

Truly, his employees were magnificent, priceless human beings. "Excellent. Thank you, Miss Adams. If that will be all—"

"Sir? May I . . .ask a personal question?"

Maxie's jaw tightened. "You may ask it, but I do not guarantee an answer."

"Yes, sir. We've all seen that little brat from ten years ago down in the prisons, but why is she here? What do you plan to do with her?"

"By some twist of fate, she has become our prisoner. As for what I will do with her, that is no concern of yours." His tone was kind, but he made sure Sasha heard the undercurrent of his threat. No more irrelevant questions would be tolerated.

"Very well, sir." She bowed, turning on her heel. "It's not my place to say, but rip her heart out and squeeze it until her dying vision is her own blood and flesh exploding in her face."

Maxie quirked an eyebrow, somewhat amused by Sasha's sudden onslaught of violence. Was savagery simple in the air these past few days? "Miss Adams, do go have a healthy spar with one of the grunts. It would be unfortunate if your sudden bloodlust distracted you from your duties.


	4. Hazed

**Author's Note: Nothing much new to say, except I'm not sure how often I'll be updating now that ORAS are out. I'll try to take a break from the games every now and then to update, but they're just so good! Oh, and just a heads up, I know this chapter is kind of confusing. It's supposed to be. Well, that's about it, comments and critiques are always appreciated. See you next time! **

* * *

><p>Chapter 4<p>

Hazed

Revenge. Was it really wise? Of course not, he had read enough literature and seen enough destroyed souls to know that. But a better question was did he want it? Did the benefits of its catharsis outweigh the risks of a most assured descent into depravity?

There were only a handful of times where Maxie had been uncertain on anything, and this situation was certainly one of them. This was no light matter that could be decided on the flip of a coin. He needed to make an informed decision, and to do that, he needed data. So, he devised a plan to test the waters.

The clock on his monitor read 1:07. Maxie had ordered that admin to be here seven minutes ago, so where the hell was he? He needed to get on with this experiment before his thoughts of how to handle May Maple consumed him. Though, there was the choice that he didn't have to _do_ anything with her. He could simply leave her in the dungeons for the foreseeable future. Even before its complete formation, Maxie disapproved of the plan. He wasn't the sort of man to let opportunities be wasted, and this, having such utter leverage over Miss May, was a capital chance. Oh, just think of all the valuable profits that one little girl could yield.

The bell at his door beeped. About damn time.

Maxie stood, straightened his overcoat, and folded his hands behind his back. "Enter."

Mack stepped in, his hands shoved in his pockets and an embarrassed look on his face. He nudged the door closed with his heel as he apologized. "Very sorry sir, Carrie and I were on lunch break, and I lost track of time."

"I highly recommend you refresh yourself on Chapter 6, Article 8, Section 20 of the handbook regarding romantic relationships with other employees." The Magma leader's face remained impassable, but there was no mistaking the displeasure in his tone.

To someone as observant as Maxie, the widening of Mack's eyes was telling, as if all the other signs hadn't been blatant enough. Askew jacket, uneven socks, buttons unaligned, all his clothing bespoke of a hasty dressing.

"S-sir? How could you possibly know?"

Maxie smirked, shaking his head. "One in the afternoon is hardly the time for a shower or an afternoon nap," he replied dryly. "Do not let your relationship interfere with your work again, or you will be promptly terminated and delivered to the authorities."

Mack stared at the ground, mumbling, "Yes, of course, sir."

"Now," Maxie said, "moving on to my summons. You have not lost your touch with a Slugma, I trust?"

For the first time since entering the room, the boy regained his color and brightened up. "Absolutely not." He smiled.

"Good. I need you to aid me in an experiment of mine by paying Miss May a visit. I will, of course, be watching, but please record all the data you collect nonetheless."

Mack nodded, unclipping an ultra ball from his belt. "No problem at all, sir. They don't call me the Master of Illusion for nothing, after all."

* * *

><p>When May woke up, she was pooled in sweat. Sure, it was summer, and sure, they were under a volcano, but she shouldn't have been <em>this<em> hot. In fact, she distinctly remembered being _cold _before she fell asleep. It was as though she had woken in a furnace.

Coughing, May sat up and looked around her. Smoke was drifting into her cell from somewhere down the hallway, and the air was crisp and dry, burned her lungs. Her throat was raw from breathing it. Was the hideout on fire? _What if they've all evacuated and forgot me down here?_ That was a smoke detector beeping off in the distance, right? Something was definitely on fire.

May coughed again, harder this time, choking on her fear of being burned alive. The smoke started to get blacker and thicker. _All right, May, you're a scientist, so let's approach this problem logically. _She flattened herself against the floor to avoid the worst of the smoke. Down here, it was a little easier to breath. _Don't panic. Conserve oxygen._

If she pressed close enough to the bars, without actually touching them, she could see further down the hall. There was glowing bright red around the corner. Fire. The base really was on fire.

"Someone get me out of here!" May screamed, completely forgetting about her reason as the fear took over. "My name is May Maple, and I'm still down here! Please, help!"

She shouted until she started wheezing from inhaling too much of the smoke. That was it, she was getting out of here whether someone came to rescue her or not. Pushing herself back up onto her feet, she balled her fingers into fists and began swinging her wrist shackles at the electric bars. The current ripped through her skin, electrocuting her, but she kept banging away at the metal and screaming from the fear and the pain.

"Someone help me," she sobbed, collapsing to her knees from dizziness and exhaustion.

"Maxie, please."

_Don't let me die here._

As if those had been the magic words, the electricity shut off and the doors swung open. It was a trick, of course it was—it was _Maxie_—but she didn't care right now. May just wanted to get out of here. Crawling on her numb hands and her bruised knees, she made it out of her cell. The dungeon hallway went left and right, but she had no trouble in deciding which way to go. The glowing and the smoke were coming from the left. She started half-crawling, half-stumbling down the hall to the right. The smoke thinned the farther she went, and soon her eyes didn't sting, and it didn't hurt so much to breathe. Leaning against the wall, she pushed herself into a standing position again once she put enough distance between her and the fire.

She had gotten out, great, but where was she? Never had she ventured this deep into the heart of the hideout. There was another circular connecting chamber, but there were only two options—the path behind her and the one before her. Continuing to use the wall for support, she pressed on. If she strained her ears, she could make out the sound of voices.

"Maxie, old pal, so good to see you."

Who was that talking? Was that. . . her? The voice sounded so distorted, so unlike herself.

"I am not the man you remember."

And was that. . . Maxie? He didn't sound like the person she once knew either.

"I surrender to you. . . Maximilian Asche."

The light grew brighter as she plunged deeper into the darkness of the tunnel. Dim yellow, warm orange, bright red. The sun? Was she nearing the outside world, her freedom?

"In my hands you have trapped yourself, and in my hands you will stay."

The hallway erupted into a conflagration of smoke and flames, and May shrieked as she was consumed in the agony of fire. Her skin blistered and peeled and charred, and she felt every pop and crackle singe her down to the bone. She screamed and screamed and ran through the flames, trying to make it to the other side.

"I am no murderer, Miss May."

Then she felt herself bump into something, and the flames and pain suddenly stopped. Whatever it was, it was a balm, so she clung to it and enveloped herself in its saving grace. Once she recovered herself, she pulled away to see who or what had rescued her.

When she saw that face, she screamed all over again. She had run straight into the arms of Maxie.

* * *

><p>When May awoke, she was soaked in tears. Angry red scratches welled on her arms, just shy of bleeding. She couldn't believe he had dragged her here. How many times had she told him. . .? Why couldn't he just listen? Mom listened. Mom understood. Mom didn't drag her to the park and make her do <em>this.<em>

"I told you already_, I hate Pokemon_! So just leave me alone!" Her throat was hoarse from screaming, and yet he still couldn't get it through his head.

"As a gym leader, I'm not raising a failure of a daughter who cannot battle," Norman hissed, jerking her up by her shoulders and shoving a three pokeballs into her arms. "Stop whining and accept who you are, May."

"It's not who _I_ am, it's who _you_ want me to be!" She hurled the balls at his head, one by one, and he caught all of them. "I hate Pokemon, and I hate you!"

Norman kneeled down to put the balls down in the grass, and as he was rising to his feet again, he slapped May across the cheek. "Watch your tongue, you insolent child!"

Her hands flew to her smarting cheek as she ran off into the park forest, tears blinding her vision. Why? Why couldn't he just let her be?

_All I want is to be a scientist._

May kept running until she didn't know where she was anymore, until she had a Mudkip and a Makuhita by her side, until she was several years older, until she ran into goofy goons in red uniforms. Until she ran into their leader Maximilian Asche.

They were on Mt. Chimney, and he was standing over where she cowered on the ground with her unconscious Pokemon. A black barrel was pointed at her face, and his hand was on the trigger. He pulled it. She screamed.

She thought she was in agony, she thought she was dead, until she opened her eyes again and saw him looking coldly down at her with bullets gleaming in his other hand.

"What would you do if I were a murderer, Miss May?"

And that was the day logic, her refuge, her protector, become her tormentor. That was the day her dream to be a scientist turned into a nightmare.

* * *

><p>When May woke up, she was wrapped in blankets and the earthy scent of nature. Warm arms wrapped around her torso, and an abdomen molded into her back. A chin rested on top of her head, its slow, even breathing gently blowing the hair on top of her head. She relaxed into the body. Everything was okay. She was safe. It was just Steven.<p>

"You acquiesce to exploring the Jagged Pass tomorrow, yes, love?" He mumbled, moving his head down to kiss the skin on her neck. His lips were warm and soft, and wet from the strawberries they had eaten together before climbing into bed.

"We have to stop to get lava cookies on the way." She yawned back, pressing her hands over his.

His chest vibrated through her back and her skin and her bones as he chuckled. "But of course."

"Hey, Steven?" May whispered, as she drifted off to sleep.

"Yes?"

"I love you," she said. "I really do."

"And I you. I love you as much as all the stones in the world."

As much as, but not more. And May loved him as much as all the adventures in the world, but not more.

"I have to go track down Maxie!"

"I am leaving for Kalos for at least two months."

And then rocks and adventures began to get in the way. And then May Maple ended up here, wherever here was. Was she dreaming? Well, fine. She would just go back to sleep then, and treasure the little noises Steven made while he slept. As she fell back asleep, she heard someone say,

"In my hands you have trapped yourself..."

* * *

><p>When May woke up, she felt like she had relived her entire life again, in that one sleep. Her head was pounding as hard as she had pounded on those cell bars, begging for freedom. What were all those weird dreams? And were they even dreams? Yes, no. Some were dreamed, some were remembered, but they all were real.<p>

Opening her eyes and pushing her sore body up into a sitting position, May saw someone standing outside her cell. Blond, tall, ice blue eyes. A Slugma sat obediently by his side.

"Who are you?" Her voice sounded like it hadn't been used for days. How long had she been asleep?

"Man, I've never heard someone scream so much in my life," he said. "I shoulda brought some earplugs, damn." He grinned.

"What the hell did you do to me?" May barked.

She looked down at her arms. No scratches, no burns, so whatever happened couldn't have been real.

"Call it a blast from the past. The unpleasant parts, to be more precise." He glanced down at the clipboard in his hands. "We've got all the information the boss needs, so we're done here. C'mon, Sluggy." The pair sauntered off down the hall before May could ask any more questions or even make a threat.

"Can you believe she screamed for a whole day?" His chuckles floated down the hallway, slowly dying off. "Man, do I still got it or what?"

* * *

><p>Maxie took off his glasses and folded them on his desk. After watching that anguishing spectacle for the past 24 hours and 28 minutes, he felt like he needed an entire bottle of Tylenol. Shutting off his monitor, he closed his eyes and held his head in his hands. He still heard her screaming. . . God, what demons had Mack made her dream? She had writhed about in that tiny cell like she had been constricted by a Seviper. At several points, the situation seemed dire enough to warrant calling a medic and indeed halting the experiment altogether. But, for good or ill, Maximilian Asche was nothing if not thorough.<p>

The sharp, shrill chime of the bell augmented his headache. He put his glasses back on and straightened his clothes but did not stand. He didn't think he could, not after that.

"Come."

Mack burst in, quite a different sight than the man he had been a day ago. After all he had done to the girl, he was _smiling_. That sadistic face, that was how Maxie was supposed to look after watching her suffer, if he cared at all for revenge. He was supposed to feel triumphant at having inflicted even a morsel of the pain she'd caused him back onto her, but no, he was merely tired.

"The report you requested, sir," Mack said, placing a Manila folder on his desk. "I don't know what the experiment was, but I think it went perfectly, if I do say so myself."

_Perhaps _too_ perfectly._ "Thank you for your services, Admin. I suppose I will expunge yesterday's infraction in exchange for a job well done. Do not expect any further clemency should this occur again."

Mack nodded, sighing in relief. "You won't ever have a problem out of me again, sir."

Maxie waved his hand, dismissing him. Once he was gone, he filed the folder away into one of his cabinets without evening opening it.

An explicit report on all of Miss May's pain. . . He didn't have to read the data to conclude what the results of this experiment would be.

A waste. All that, and the results were still inconclusive.


	5. Incinerated

**Author's Note: Like I said in the first chapter, I am incorporating some elements from ORAS, but at the same time I'm trying not to put in too many spoilers for the people who haven't yet played it. Enjoy, and let me know what you think!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 5<p>

Incinerated

It took May three whole days to recover from whatever that blond man and his Slugma had done to her, and even after sleeping during most of that time, she still felt like shit. Maxie did not come down to the dungeons to bring her meals, and neither did anyone else.

At first, she had been afraid to let herself fall asleep, not wanting to relive those all too realistic nightmares again, but eventually she succumbed to her exhaustion. When she wasn't sleeping during those three days, she used the only thing Maxie had not taken from her: her mind. She puzzled over who that Magma member was, what exactly he had done to her, on whose authority and why. He'd said that he had gotten all the information his "boss" needed, but who was that? Maxie, maybe, but if his purpose was to exact revenge, then wouldn't he have wanted to do it himself? Was there someone else in charge here that perhaps Maxie could not have known about? Were the grunts from ten years ago getting their own revenge on her, too? But she hadn't recognized that man from any of her previous interactions with Team Magma. . .

Thinking about it only served to increase her confusion (and her migraine), so she allowed her thoughts to drift into different topics. Like how to escape this hellhole. After all, getting out of here was more of a priority than sticking around to wonder about what Maxie would do to her.

After wracking her brain for hours untold, six different escape options were the reward for her efforts.

Plan One: She knew that within the next week, they would be relocating to a new base. She could attempt to escape amidst all the confusion. This plan was May's favorite because after they reached a new location her chances of being rescued plummeted into the single digit percentages. This plan was May's least favorite because it cost her her freedom if she failed.

Plan Two: Challenge Maxie to a rematch. Admittedly, this was not one of her best options. Maxie had no incentive to accept, and even if he did, there was no guarantee that she would win this time, either.

Plan Three: Bargain with Maxie. What could she possibly have to offer him? Money? Like he needed more of that. A promise that she would use her sway as champion to convince the president of Hoenn to pardon him? No, he was too shrewd to believe in anyone's uninsured promises. She had nothing to give up; the only things that she owned were her heart and her Pokémon, and she would yield neither.

Plan Four: Suck up to Maxie. She hated the idea, and was unsure if it would even work.

Plan Five: Find a way to discretely contact someone. Her Holocaster was fully charged, but with Maxie monitoring all communications on the island, that was impossible. Unless she did it as soon as they got out of the base, before they left to go to the new ones. Maxie would be away from his computers, and thus he wouldn't see that she sent a message. This plan had undeniable potential.

Plan Six: Outwit Maxie. He had tried, oh how he had tried, to steal her capacity for independent reasoning from her, but he had failed. May Maple wouldn't allow herself to be so easily brainwashed by the likes of him. If she could somehow turn her captivity into a game of the mind, then she drastically increased her chances of winning.

Sighing, May stared down at the pokeballs clipped to her belt. They were salvation, if only she could reach them. The shackles on her hands and ankles allowed for very little movement. For the first time since being dropped in this hellhole, May actually paid thorough attention to her surroundings. A metal bed, sans pillow or blanket, jutted out of the back wall; the concrete floors and walls were surprisingly clean for a criminal mastermind's dungeon; and overall the small cell gave the impression of being solid, lacking any weaknesses. Seemingly inescapable.

Perhaps not so with the electrical field. If there were only a way she could short it out. May reached for the cup of water someone had so graciously left her at some point, probably while she was sleeping, and, inching as close as she deemed safe to the force field, she splashed the water onto the electrical lines. They crackled, buzzed, and hissed, but other than letting off a small amount of steam, they seemed unphased. She needed more water.

"Grunt!" May shouted out to the lone, sleepy guard who stood watch at the entrance to the hallway. "My tongue feels like it's been scorched by a Torkoal. Could you bring me some water? Please?"

"Whatever." He said, and stalked out of her sights.

She didn't expect him to return, let alone with a liter sized water bottle, but there he was.

"Don't try anything, kid," he warned before deactivating the force field. He tossed the bottle in and reactivated the electricity.

May was pleased to notice a spark pop off one of the horizontal lines when he turned it back on. She sipped some of it, just to quell his suspicions, and she waited until he fell back into his bored stupor before she continued on with her plan.

After intently studying the construction of the door, she decided it would be best to dump the water on the live lines near the electronic locking mechanism. If she could get them to spark enough, perhaps the lock system would malfunction and allow her to open the door.

May scooted her way into the left hand corner where the lock was and took the water bottle with her. She uncapped it and dumped it onto the electrical line that fed directly into the control system. The result was devastating and immediate.

Small embers sizzled, smoke oozed from the wires and the electronic lock, and then before May had time to be pleased by her genius, the door erupted into flames. Everything turned bright and lethargic. She thought she screamed, but her brain, attempting to cope with the chaos, had no time to process the sound. She noticed that her arm felt very warm, even warmer than the rest of the enclosed space, and she looked over at it. Her left shoulder down to her elbow was engulfed in eager, lapping flames. Already they had begun to eat away at the fabric of the Team Magma jacket.

The shock was not long in subsiding, and then came the pain. Intensely hot, sharp like a million IV needles piercing her flesh at once. She tried to push herself back from the door, but she had only one good arm. She toppled over on her side, and, unperturbed, kept rolling, trying to put out the flames.

Maybe she screamed and cried out for help, but everything was drowned out by the roaring conflagration. She was living her nightmare.

Only, unlike in the dream, grunts came running down the hall like ants. One put out the fire with a fire extinguished, another had to pry the doors open with the help of a Pokémon. Then she saw Maxie. He wasn't running like the rest of them, but he speed-walked in long strides. Pushing aside his employees, he came in and she felt her vision darken as something thick and heavy was thrown over her. A body bag? A blanket to smother her?

She fought to push it off of her—it was making it too hot and hard to breathe—but Maxie held her down under his weight.

"Stop struggling, you foolish child! You're on _fire!"_

He wasn't trying to smother _her_, but the flames. She ceased her flailing and lay on the ground, breathing heavily.

"Sir, do you want a stretcher?"

"Unnecessary. That will waste time."

And so, for the second time in the past few days, May found herself being carried by Maxie. This time it was bridal style. The champion scooched as far down into the fire blanket as she could to hide her embarrassment. He walked swiftly but carefully, holding her tightly to his chest to prevent his gait from jostling her.

He took her to the med bay, laid her down on a hospital bed, and scurried around the room gathering supplies like a mother hen.

"You're not even a doctor." May said, eyeing him suspiciously as he returned to her bedside. Why did he keep insisting on personally treating her wounds despite the fact that he was not a medical professional? He should have been interested in her pain, not her convalescence, yet here he was at her bedside for a second time. Granted, he was far from hospitable, but just the fact that he was there seemed to suggest that perhaps revenge was not dominate in his thoughts.

He sounded amused. "I am, actually. Perhaps not a medical one, but I have dealt with enough fire Pokémon to have an extensive knowledge of burns."

May huffed in frustration. He was the last person on earth that she'd want as a doctor.

"Where were you exposed to the fire?" As ever, he was cool, objective, and professional.

"I know that my left arm was on fire, but I was pressed against the door on my left side, so there might be more injuries." Might wasn't quite the right word. She was certain there were more. Her left leg stung, too, but was nothing compared to the pain of her arm.

Maxie said nothing as he selected a pair of scissors from the tray on the counter beside her. May instinctually scooted as far away from him as the small bed would allow.

He sighed. "Please cooperate, Miss May. It would be an inconvenience if I had to restrain you."

She allowed him to cut away the charred parts of her clothes on her arm and leg, intently watching him the entire time. To her surprise, he didn't harm her.

"There is a bathroom across the hall. Run cold water over the burned areas on your arm and leg for at least five minutes."

Neither of them said anything about the fact that he had to help her limp to the bathroom. Nor about the fact that he was waiting outside the door to help her back to the med room when she got out.

After returning her to the bed, Maxie left the room and was gone for several minutes. When he came back, he was holding a small white tube.

"If you think you're going to rub that on my skin, then you're about to make great friends with this pair of scissors you left on the counter," May said, warily watching him as he unscrewed the cap. Catching a glimpse of the side of the bottle, she saw the words _Aloe Vera_ printed in flowery green script.

"You are in no physical state to argue, so cease your theatrics, child." Nonetheless, Maxie picked up the scissors and locked them back in the drawer. Arceus, couldn't this man make just _one_ mistake? That was all she needed to get out of this place.

May lightly shrugged her shoulders, as much as she could without aggravating her wounds. "Whatever. Just try not to enjoy this too much, since this is probably the only time you'll ever touch a woman." She grinned triumphantly at her insult. If Maxie intended to keep her hostage, then the least she could do was make his life as unpleasant as possible.

May wished she could have retracted those words when she saw him pull on a pair of white gloves. She involuntarily shuddered.

"You don't have latrophobia, do you, Miss May?"

Her response came by way of a single finger.

May jumped out of her skin when the cold cream made contact with her arm. Her body gradually adjusted to the temperature differences, but she would never get used to Maxie's touch. Even through the gloves she could feel his warmth; it was a great irony that a man so cold could exude such heat. She cursed him for being meticulously thorough in his work. His fingers rubbed across her skin, over all the angry red, swollen patches dotting her from shoulder to elbow. The contact was light, but for the way he kneaded and swirled the cream into her skin until all traces of the white paste disappeared. When he finished, he propped her arm on a spare pillow and moved to start on her lower leg. The task was completed in silence. He focused on his work, and she focused on quelling the nausea that his touch caused.

"Please never touch me again." May feigned the motions of retching.

"Believe me," Maxie said, pulling off his gloves and tossing them in the trash, "the feeling is mutual."

He bandaged her arm and leg, just tightly enough for the wrap to stay on but no so restrictive as to cause pain. Another spare pillow slipped under her ankle.

"Wow, Maxie, your bedside manner is not as repulsive as I expected," May teased.

"In that case you should savor it now because there will be consequences once you have recovered." He placed a bottle of pills and a small cup of water on the table beside her bed. "There are two guards outside the door to this room, and should you attempt to escape again, they have been ordered to take any action necessary to subdue you. Up to and including lethal force."

* * *

><p>There seemed to be no end to the unwanted surprises this girl had up her sleeve, not to say that in that respect she had changed from ten years ago. In plenty of other ways, however, she had become almost unrecognizable. Even in their most heated clashes, he couldn't recall Miss May ever having been quite so passionate. Determined yes, but now, even her death threats seemed to be filled with her explosive sense of life. Her snarky levity with him almost led him to wonder if she had altogether lost her fear. Or was it simply that that was one of her defense mechanisms? Either way, it didn't take much observation for him to notice that he would have to go above and beyond if he truly wanted to break her spirit.<p>

And there he was again, back to that annoying question. Well, he supposed it wasn't much of a question anymore. He had his answer, but he could not yet bring himself to stop going through the motions. It was an easier option. That way, he didn't have to consider the bigger picture. If he didn't want Miss May here for revenge, then what was she here for?

* * *

><p>"Dammit."<p>

All May's efforts had gotten her were nasty wounds, an even _more_ pissed off Maxie, and a relocation a from a prison cell to a hospital bed. But perhaps there was one good thing to come of this. Time. Surely all the commotion had thrown Maxie's plans off schedule and bought her at least a day or two. That gave her friends a larger window of opportunity to notice that something was wrong and come find her. Maybe if she set something on fire again she could gain even more time, but she figured there was a point where Maxie would become angry that it would start shaving time off her own life span.

May downed two of the pain relieving pills and then lay awake waiting for them to kick in. During that time, she thought of the life she's foolishly left behind because she was having some stupid midlife crisis at only twenty years old. She couldn't help but wonder who had tried to contact her over the past few days. Had Steven made it to Kalos safely? What was Brendan up to? How was snuffing out the eco-terrorists going for Archie and Team Aqua? At last, her curiosity got the best of her.

Maxie be damned. She turned on her Holocaster. 10 new video messages.

_Hello, love, it's Steven. My flight leaves tomorrow morning, and I thought I would call to wish you a good night. However, I suppose you're busy. That's all right. Sleep well, wherever you are, May._ From four days ago.

_Good morning, May! Well, it's afternoon in Hoenn, isn't it? Regardless, I've just arrived in Kalos, and I'm on my way to Lumiose now. I wish you could be here. Please do call me back. I miss you already._ From three days ago.

May wished she could be there too.

_May, it's Brendan. I thought you would have called by now. I mean, you don't have to wait until you've got Maxie in handcuffs to let me know how you're doing. Or is it that you didn't want to disturb me? Don't ever think I'm too busy to talk to you, okay?_ From two days ago.

_Hey, kiddo, it's Archie. I called to see if you'd caught your bastard yet, but you didn't answer. That's not like you. Are you okay? Call me._ From two day ago.

_May, why haven't you been answering my calls? Are you angry with me? What I have I done? Please, talk to me, love. _From one day ago.

_It's Brendan again. If you're giving me the cold shoulder because I was too busy to come with you, then this isn't funny! I'm getting worried, May. Steven called me, and he hasn't heard from you either. _From one day ago.

_Oh, dearest May, has something happened to you? God, I want to hope you are all right, but I am grievously worried._ 19 hours ago.

_It's almost been a week, May. Where the hell are you?_ 14 hours ago.

_Archie, again. Kid, you got me concerned. I know you're busy an' all, but you need to answer the goddamn phone. Call someone and let them know you're not dead, will ya? Brendan called me today, askin' about ya, and I don't know anythin' more than he does. If I have to come track you down and rescue your ass, I'll be hella pissed! _7 hours ago.

_May... I love you. Wherever you are, whatever fate has befallen you, I want you to know that. My heart is not stone, dearest. It quivers and trembles, and right now, it fears for you. _One hour ago.

May shut off her Holocaster and tucked it into her bra, just in case they decided to search her. And if they checked there, shame on their souls.

Her fingers burned with a desire to call them, to tell them what had happened, but she couldn't get them involved. She would not allow them to be endangered because of her. She rolled over on her uninjured side and went through every expletive she knew until she fell asleep.

* * *

><p>Maxie watched every emotional Holocaster message the girl had received on one of the monitors in his office. He was correct in assuming that Steven and Brendan held pieces of her heart, but never had he expected her to so intimately befriend Archie. He would enjoy tormenting Archie twofold, for it would bring pain to both May <em>and<em> his rival.

Ah, how easily he slipped into that villainous façade, that evil mask, and no one would ever discern the difference, so close was it to his own skin. Close, but not quite a match.

Honestly, he was surprised that she had not attempted to send out a distress signal. Then again, perhaps one escape attempt was enough for the day. The monitor went dark when she turned her Holocaster off again. He would have to confiscate that before they reached the new base, and her Pokémon as well. They hadn't been much of a danger when she had been chained and unable to reach them, but now she had the freedom of movement.

Paling at the thought, Maxie ordered six more guards to patrol the private med bay area. That girl was a handful. He _had_ to do something about her incalcitrant behavior, but that would have to wait until in the morning. For now, he had to redouble his work efforts to make up for the time the girl had cost him. There was no way that they could possibly leave at the date he had planned.

Damn. Every extra day they lingered, they exponentially increased their chances of being discovered. Between Brendan, Archie, and Steven, Maxie did not doubt that one of them had already alerted the police.

His hands tightened into fists. She would pay for the injustices she had caused him, from ten years ago up until the fresh wounds she wrought this very day. He would repay her for each. And. Every. One.

And if the police found them, well, the champion of Hoenn would make a magnificent hostage.

* * *

><p>"Hey, Dad, where do you keep your maps?" Brendan asked, walking into the man's personal office.<p>

He jumped at the intrusion. "What are you still doing here? It's almost eleven o'clock at night, Brendan!"

"May might be in danger. I need maps of Hoenn. Specifically the island chains around Dewford."

Birch stood from his desk. "What—islands—May?" His sentences crammed into incoherent key words, but Brendan knew what he meant.

"She went looking for Maxie's hideout. She narrowed it down to the islands surrounding Dewford and the abandoned ship. Only, I haven't heard from her in four days, and neither have Steven or Archie."

"Oh dear," Birch said, pacing around the room, his head sunk to his chest in thought and likely concern.

_"The maps,"_ Brendan urged. He couldn't afford to waste any more time. May had said that Team Magma would be relocating soon. If they did, he'd never be able to find them again.

"O-of course!" He pulled a stack of atlases, world, city, and regional maps from off of one of the bookshelves in the room, pushing aside the work on his desk to make room.

Brendan frantically searched through them for one that charted the area of interest. When he found one, he snatched it up and dashed out the door, calling "I'm going to get a police force to help us search!"


	6. Tense

**Author's Note: Thanks to everyone for all of your favorites, follows, and reviews! And, to answer a question, I usually will try to update at least once a week (probably on Friday or Saturday). However, since I'm currently on break for the holidays, don't be surprised if updates come a bit more frequently. As always, enjoy the story, and any advice on how I could make it better would be greatly appreciated!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 6<p>

Tense

Nights at the Little Root Town police station were known for being notoriously slow, so no one in the precinct was expecting a young man to burst in, panting and sweaty, through the front doors nigh on midnight. He had run so fast that he had to catch his breath before he could speak, breathing heavily and doubled over with his hands on his knees.

"Where's Officer Jenny?" He coughed, collapsing into one of the chairs in the reception area.

"She's right here." No doubt the noise brought her out. "What do you need?"

"May Maple is in danger."

"The _champion_ May Maple? By Arceus, what's happened?"

"She left four days ago to track down Team Magma's new hideout, and no one has heard from her since then. I fear she may have been captured." Brendan handed her the map he had taken from Birch. "She was searching these six island chains around Dewford. That's all I know."

"There are at least five dozen islands in that area. We don't have time to check them all!"

"If we can't narrow it down, then we must!" Brendan snapped. "Please, get as many officers as you can down to those islands. May thought Maxie would plan to relocate soon, after Tabitha was discovered, so we don't have much time!"

"All right, kid. I'll call in some favors, see if I can get some help from nearby cities."

"Thank you," Brendan heaved, standing. "I'm headed off to Dewford to start searching."

Officer Jenny caught him by the arm. "You're waiting until the search officially begins at daybreak tomorrow morning. It's dangerous to fly at night, and stupid to go looking in the dark. You'll overlook something. So go get some rest and be back here tomorrow."

"But—"

Officer Jenny leveled him with a stern glare. "It will take at least a day or two for all of the reinforcements to arrive, so our efficiency on day one will be severely curtailed anyway. You just need to have faith and patience. May Maple is strong. She'll adapt to whatever happens."

Brendan sighed. "Very well. Thank you, Officer."

Brendan couldn't stand to be idle at a time like this, but Officer Jenny was right. He only hoped they could make it to her in time.

Walking outside, he called Steven on his holocaster. He would be awake, as it was midmorning there. The former champion picked up after a few rings.

"Brendan? It's late there, is it not?"

"Yes, but it's okay. I don't plan on getting much sleep tonight anyway."

"Is something amiss? Is this about May?"

Brendan expressed his worries to Steven. "A police force will start searching for her tomorrow morning."

"I'm coming back to Hoenn on the next flight." Steven all but growled. Brendan understood his frustration. To think that May could be being held prisoner by Maxie. . .

"Don't. May wouldn't want you to miss this opportunity. I'll keep you apprised of our progress, and if you decide you must come back, then you can. I just don't want you to ruin your trip over something that could turn out to be nothing."

Neither of them wholeheartedly believed it would end that way, but they had not yet lost their hope that it would at least end well.

* * *

><p>The pills helped May sleep well for the first time in the four days she had been there. She didn't dream, but the quiet, blackness of her eyelids was a welcome cocoon from the stress of the outside world. When she woke the next morning, dried tears crusted around her eyes and left ugly streaks going down her cheeks. She used the bathroom to wash up, change from her hospital gown into another pair of her spare clothes, and comb the tangles out of her hair. She hadn't seen a brush in four days. Small curls of mangled hair came out in between the bristles. Her eyes were red when she looked in the mirror, her cheeks less full and paler. She couldn't hold down as much food as she used to. Of course, it wasn't a huge difference over a span of four days, but what of four weeks? Four months? Being here was slowly undoing her. At this rate, she really would rot away.<p>

Shaking her head, May slid down against the bathroom door, stretching her legs out. Blood stained the old bandages, but Maxie hadn't given her any new ones. How paradoxical, going through all that effort and then letting her get an infection from dirty bandages.

_Stop thinking about Maxie for more than ten seconds, would you?_

She couldn't continue on this way, if she wanted to keep her health and her sanity. May had always been (and still was) stubborn, but she supposed now was the time to concede that Norman had been right on a few things. Knowing when to give up, for one. As smart as she was, May was at a crippling disadvantage here, and she could not reliably hope that Maxie would slip up and change that. For the present, at least, no matter what scheme she tried, she was stuck here.

All right. Might as well stop the posturing, then, because it wasn't doing her any good. Accept that freedom was not an option right now. Perhaps later, if she bided her time, but for the present, she needed a different plan. The first step was, like Maxie had said, to stop all these theatrics. He had subpar morals, but he was not a villain, and she had righteous loyalty, but she was not a hero. They were not enemies, but their goals were certainly at odds. She wanted to leave, and, for whatever reason, he wanted her to stay. It was as he said: he was not an uncivilized man, so why should they be unable to discuss their issues instead of engaging in their own private war?

If she was going to be completely honesty with herself—for the first time since she had been here—she did not hate the man, but the mask. She did not fear who he was, but who he pretended to be. Of course she could not speak for him, but she knew that he was as staunchly rational as she. Revenge seemed too base a passion for him.

Or was that just her naive, sixteen-year-old self speaking? At this point, she didn't much care. Naïveté was easier to handle than faking this unending cycle of distrust. That was not who May was, and if she had learned anything from Norman, it was that she had to be true to herself.

May had barely gotten back into the hospital room when the metal door swung open again behind her. Maxie stormed in, his face even more severe than usual. May put some distance between them. Now was probably not the ideal time to bring up talking out their issues.

She said, "What's your problem?" _Way to try being nice, May._

Maxie wordlessly turned on the television in the room and flipped it to the news channel. An aerial camera panned over the ocean, zooming in to show hundreds of tiny specks crawling over numerous islands. "Late last night, the Little Root Town police station received a tip from Brendan Birch that the Pokémon Champion, May Maple, may have been captured by Team Magma while searching for the whereabouts of their hideout. A search began for her this morning, and police officers have been scouring the island chains around Dewford since dawn. Reinforcements from throughout Hoenn are expected to arrive within the next two days."

May's heart soared like an Altaria, and she smiled so wide that it cracked her chapped lips. Maybe now was the right time to think about freedom, after all.

That is, if she could survive Maxie's wrath.

He sensed her thoughts with the same off putting accuracy that she had heretofore thought unique to Steven. "Oh, I'm not going to harm you, not physically," he said.

May smirked, her eyes regaining the blazing light that had not shone within them since her battle with the redhead. "I'm not afraid of you, Maxie." she said. There was nothing but sincerity in her voice, and in her heart. She truly desired to leave here on as high a note as was possible in this messy situation. "I'm sure you of all people can understand the rationality of these events." No mocking. She was serious.

"Give me your holocaster, Miss May."

She shrugged, crossing the room to where he stood and placing it in his hands. Help was on the way, so she didn't need it anymore.

"Now, give me your poke balls." His lips curled when he saw her recoil.

"What are you going to do to them?"

"That all depends on you, Miss May. So long as you behave, they will remain unharmed."

May backed away from him. "You will not lay a hand upon them." Why couldn't he understand? Didn't he see she held no malice toward him?

Maxie came forward, easily out pacing her and forcing her backwards until she bumped into the edge of the hospital bed.

May picked up a fountain pen that was lying on the counter and uncapped it. "I wish you no ill, but I _will_ defend my Pokémon," she hissed. How she expected him to take her threat seriously when she was wielding the nib of a fountain pen, she did not know.

The Magma leader latched onto the wrist of the hand she held the pen in, squeezing a pressure point with iron force until May was compelled to drop her weapon. Before she could grab another, his arms wrapped around her waist for a moment as he removed the belt holding her poke balls. Then, he released her and moved toward the door.

"Each time you step out of line, one of your Pokémon will suffer. And if I run out of Pokémon, I will do the same unto you."

Maxie turned on his heel when he reached the door. "Your friends are at maximum four to five days from discovering this base. When they do, the only thing they will find is the heart of a volcano filled with explosives."

May had to clutch onto the side of the bed for support as she stumbled in shock.

"I advise you to tell them to cancel their search if you wish them to stay alive. I will receive your answer later, but I would not delay. Your procrastination could mean their death."

She was immensely thankful that her body waited until Maxie left the room before it shut down from the stress.

* * *

><p>Maxie congratulated himself on a flawlessly executed plan as he strolled back to his office. He could not have hoped for it to have gone better. May believed him, of course she did, the naive child. She could not distinguish lie from truth to save her life.<p>

_I am not a murderer, Miss May._

The one true sentence he had said to her among a pile of manipulations and lies. Mind games were his specialty, and his opponent had not yet even realized that she was playing.

There were no explosives. No, if he had to commit murder in order to avoid incarceration, then he would rather just turn himself in. With this plan, May would buy him back the time she had stolen from him, and then some. She knew she was close to freedom, but she didn't know how close. All she had to do was _think_ a little, and the web he spun over her eyes would come tumbling down. She would have her freedom and the satisfaction of seeing him behind bars.

Indeed, a mind was a terrible thing to waste.

* * *

><p>May returned to consciousness not serenely and slowly, but with jerky and twisting movements. She was aware of being awake, but her nightmare continued to smolder behind her eyes. She fought against the flames that swallowed her friends and her screams, flailing about so wildly that she knocked several medical instruments off of the countertop beside the bed. Her mouth was dry and tasted like the ashes of the people her foolishness had killed. Chugging a bottle of water did nothing to get rid of the foul, pasty taste that her subconscious had conjured.<p>

He was lying. She absolutely knew he was. If he were truly capable of killing innocent people for his ends, then she would have been dead ten years ago. Yet, she could not bring herself to fully trust that judgment. _She_ believed it, but her life wasn't the only one at stake if she was wrong. She could not allow the lives of countless people to depend on her mind, certainly not in the state that it was. Maxie was forcing her to choose between the lives of innocent policemen and women and her own freedom. Of course there was no hesitation about which she would chose, but that didn't help her come to terms with her decision. It put her right back in the miserable place she started, and it had taken so much suffering to accept her situation the first time. Again, she would be Maxie's prisoner for the remainder of the foreseeable future. It had taken her ten years to track down this base, and if Tabitha hadn't been caught, she never would have found them. For someone to find them again would take at least the same span of time, but logic told her that it would be longer. Maxie wouldn't make the same mistakes twice.

And neither would she. She would not forsake her friends and citizens, and she would not forsake herself. Neither was worth the cost of her freedom.

Still, she could not help but think that it was a nasty place he had put her in.

How could she ever defeat him? He had ten years of life experience on her, physical advantages of strength, height, and weight, and, she hated to admit it, he was a brilliant strategist. May's approach in battles tended to be to be demolish everything as quickly as possible, no matter the circumstances. That worked to her advantage only in short battles or when her Pokémon were much stronger than her opponents'. Maxie's Pokémon were evenly matched with hers, perhaps even a little stronger, and as the battle wore on, her weaknesses became greater in number. Maxie knew this, and exploited them all. Unlike her, he had learned from their clashes ten years ago. May was still trapped in the past, where her actions didn't have consequences and by some miracle she always won. Now those miracles were over, and those consequences had caught her.

If only she'd realized that before she challenged Maxie. Oh, what she wouldn't give to have one more chance to fight him. One more chance to have freedom.

Maybe she could.

While she waited for Maxie to come back to receive her answer, she thought, she strategized, she schemed. This time when she saw him, she would be ready.

As always, the Magma leader was perfectly punctual. Her watch beeped to signal the beginning of a new hour, and, if she was lucky—no, if she was wise—a new life.

As always, he glossed over pleasantries. May empathized. "What have you decided, Miss May?"

She held up a hand. "Just hear me out before you say anything."

His silence was her only cue to proceed.

"I have a deal to propose," she said, trying her best to be relaxed and professional. "Battle me again. If I win, then I get to walk out of here. I won't say anything about this base, and I'll never know where you've gone. I won't keep looking for you." _I can't speak for the police, though._

"And if I win?" He asked.

May sighed. "I'll stop trying to escape for a month."

Maxie barked a laugh. "Miss May, I believe you have forgotten that I am the one with the advantage. If you are to bargain for your freedom, then you must present something worth the price."

"A month and ten days. I won't do anything out of line for one month and ten days."

"You will be perfectly obedient for two months, and, in addition, you will assist me in faking your death," Maxie countered.

So they would stop looking for her. Absolutely no chance of outside rescue. Her very last chance at freedom. May trembled.

Maxie smirked. "Well, Miss May? What will it be?"

She could bet her only chance of freedom on this matter, or she could wait for ten years and hope that someone found her body in the basement of Maxie's shiny new hideout.

Head held high, she said, "I accept the terms."

"Very well. And, should after your battle you regret your decision, I may remind you that I am in possession of your Pokémon."

"Message received," May said.

She followed him out into the halls, down two ramps, and into a battle arena. It wasn't the one they had used before, thankfully. She didn't want to have to worry about losing one of her babies in a yawning abyss. A grunt brought out her pokeballs and placed them on a table off to the side of the room.

"They have all been fully healed. For the sake of time, we will choose three Pokémon to battle. We will not use items, including mega stones."

"Fine."

There went May's ace in the hole. She stared at the six red and white balls, deciding who to pick. Which Pokémon would Maxie choose? Would he fight straightforwardly this time, or would he try to throw her off again?

She knew that she needed Swampert for sure. Maxie had two fire Pokémon, so there was a 33% chance that she would end up fighting at least one. She considered that he might choose Shiftry to counter her Swampert, but her Pyroar was just too weak to do much damage unless the type matchups were in his favor. A steel type like Lucario wasn't a very good choice for the same reason she chose Swampert. Altaria could be useful against Blaizeken, and Camerupt's ground type moves would have no effect on her. Good, good. So that was two Pokémon. Who should be the last? Sabeleye or Gardevoir? Gardevoir would have no effect on Maxie's Mightenya, and she already had one of Blaizeken's weaknesses covered. Frederick it was then.

"I'm ready." May said, taking her place on the field.

Maxie was already waiting for her. "Let the battle begin."

They both threw their poke balls. May summoned her Swampert first, and Maxie summoned Shiftry. Already this battle seemed to be off to a bad start.

"Shiftry, use leaf storm."

"Haru, dig underground and protect yourself."

Leaves, vines, and thick tree branches whipped up in a dense tornado around them, and Haru briefly got smacked and beaten by it as he was burrowing beneath the earth.

"Follow Swampert underground."

Shiftry started digging down into the tunnels Haru had already created. May smiled. She hadn't planned this, but she wasn't about to pass up the unforeseen opportunity.

"Swampert, quickly, come back to the surface and then use earthquake."

Haru scrambled up out of a hole and then slammed his massive fists into the ground, beating it to a pulp. Chunks of rock rained down from overhead, littering the field in debris.

"Now use rock tomb and plug up the holes."

She was going to bury his Shiftry alive. Just like he had threatened to do to her all those years ago. "How's this for revenge?" May shouted across the field at him, smirking.

Swampert began lugging boulders across the field to cover up the hole. As he was about to throw the last one down, Maxie said, "Use energy ball."

Blinding light exploded from beneath the hole and blasted Haru in the face. He flew across the field and smacked into a boulder.

"Vine whip."

"Haru, get up and dodge it."

Haru struggled to his feet, but now quickly enough. Vines slithered around Swampert's neck and constricted until May could hear Haru gagging for breath. Shiftry' s hold on him relaxed only when his head lolled against the boulder.

"You did amazing, Haruka. We were so close."

"Come on, kick his ass, Alice!" May summoned her Altaria.

"Use sky attack."

Altaria furiously beat her wings, whipping up intense gales that sliced at Shiftry and knocked him off his feet. With Haru's and Alice's combined attacks, he was done for.

"Aggron, come."

Type matchups actually worked in her favor this time. Alice would be immune to any of his ground attacks. However, she still had to be on guard against his rock type moves.

"Alice, use dragon pulse."

"Defend."

Aggron curled into an impenetrable ball, and the blue burning waves that Alice hurled at him had no effect. Dammit, he was too good at defense. Either she kept barraging him with attack after attack to prevent him from landing a blow on Alice, for it would surely kill her, or she ended this now. She couldn't count on the hope that one of her moves might land. She had to be sure she killed him.

"Alice, use perish song, and then sing."

That haunting, morbid tune fell upon their ears once again, and following immediately after it, a lullaby. Both Pokémon were cursed to die together. And they did.

This was it. Their last Pokémon. Frederick would determine her fate.

"Go, Fred!"

"Mightenya."

She was at a disadvantage again, but she wouldn't let that stop her.

"Sand attack and then bite, Mightenya."

Maxie's Pokémon stirred up dust and sand particles and kicked them into Fred's eyes. Sighing, May didn't even bother telling him to dodge the attack. He couldn't see.

When the sand cleared, May noticed that Frederick was rooted to the spot and trembling all over.

"It's okay, Fred," she cooed. "That old puppy isn't anything you need to be afraid of."

Fred didn't move.

"Mightenya, crunch."

Mightenya sank his teeth into Frederick's throat and swung his head madly about, tearing Fred to shreds.

"Come on, Fred! Use shadow ball. Aim for his face."

Fred did nothing but whimper and let himself be dragged across the field like a chew toy. He was still able to battle physically, but Mightenya's bite had startled him so badly as to render her immobile. She wouldn't let this go on anymore.

"Stop," May said.

"Release him, Mightenya."

May ran to Frederick, scooped him into her arms, and hugged him to her chest. "I'm so sorry, Fred. It's not your fault. You gave your best effort, so thank you."

Eventually she calmed him down enough to coax him into his poke ball. Maxie watched her the whole time. His expression was neutral, neither haughty nor mocking like she had expected. He did not tell her to kneel and surrender.

Instead, he said, "Return to your room and collect yourself. I will come for you in two hours, at which time you will contact Brendan and Officer Jenny and tell them to end the investigation."


	7. Resigned

**Author's Note: Thank you all for your continued support. I'm glad to see so many favorites, follows, and kind comments already, and I hope to see many more in the future! That's about all I have to say this time, so enjoy the story. :) Oh, by the way, if you're interested in the Courtney x Maxie ship, then you might be interested in checking on my new fanfiction, Great Minds. (Shameless self-advertisement.) That's really it this time; see you next chapter.**

* * *

><p>Chapter 7<p>

Resigned

Not many things were able to catch Maxie off guard, but May Maple seemed to make a habit of it. He had been stunned into silence when she knelt down to console her Pokémon, despite knowing that he was watching. She displayed her weaknesses like a weapon, and made strengths of them. He felt her love for her Pokémon through _his_ heart, cold and shriveled though it was. She genuinely did care, so much, and about everything. Never had he met such a passionate person. However, she was a double-edged sword. Her hatred was as potent as her love.

Standing before her, watching her display all her gentle vulnerabilities, he had to question whether his desire for revenge had even been reasonably founded in the first place. Maxie allowed himself to consider the events of ten years ago from her perspective, and when he did, he found no reason to hate her. Miss May was simply a brazen girl concerned by Team Magma's actions. She had seen what he had at the time not: his foolhardiness. If he had known that his ideas would eventually lead him to the near destruction of the world, then he would have abandoned them.

What was he angry about, then? Being humiliated by an inexperienced child? While it was certainly a kick to his ego, it was nothing to hold a grudge over for ten years. Perhaps he was angry that May had painted him as villainous when his intentions were anything but. Or because he was forced to abandon all his homes and flee underground to avoid capture. But those were all trifling, material things.

Why, then, why had he thought he wanted revenge? Why did he want to keep her here? Was it that he truly enjoyed seeing her suffering? He thought of the Manila folder in his filing cabinet and quickly reminded himself of the answer to that question.

Maxie was just _angry_, and Miss May was simply unfortunate enough to be on the receiving end of it. For the past ten years, he had been, and still was, angry for his idiotic, misguided actions. More than the anger, though, it was the guilt that refused to leave him. Even as the world was crumbling before his eyes, he had known that he could never atone for what he had done, never face the world again without knowing that what he saw before him had nearly died by his own doing. However, that didn't make coping with those thoughts any easier. Maxie couldn't face the world, but, for some reason, he found himself able to face May Maple. He felt no need for postures and pleasantries around her, for she had seen him at his worst. There was no need for him to play either monster or king, for, despite his efforts to convince her otherwise, she saw him for what he was. A man.

In a way, she had become an unexpected but not unwelcome outlet for all his frustrations, and these past four days he had only deluded himself into pretending it was revenge he sought.

* * *

><p>May didn't have any more false hope or fake tears left. In fact, she didn't have any dramatic emotions left. She'd used them all up over the past four days. She, May Maple, was stuck with Maxie, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it. There. She said it. Now she just had to force herself to get used to it.<p>

_Might as well make the most of it. _If she was going to be here for a while, then she at least wanted to make that time as pleasant as possible, for the both of them. That meant no more snide remarks and rude comments. That would be difficult, but hey, she had an indeterminate amount of time ahead of her to recondition herself.

May decided to kill the time looking around the hospital room that had become her temporary home. There wasn't much of interest, as medical equipment took up most of the space in the room. Monitors, machines, medicine cabinets. It was a terrible irony that a girl with a fear of doctors ended up residing in a nursing room.

She peeked inside the drawers of the nightstand next to her bed. Empty, locked, empty, oh, what's this? There was a dusty notebook lying by itself inside the bottom drawer. She opened it and found it unused.

Well, not for long. May decided to keep a journal while she was here. It would be a good stress reliever and an even better distraction. Sure, no one would ever read it—no one would ever know what had happened to the missing champion of Hoenn—but that didn't matter much to her. She just needed _someone_ (or something) to talk to. Maxie sure as hell wasn't good company.

May rummaged around for a pen and started writing.

_July 27._

_I've been here for four days—or has it been five? I haven't really been keeping up. They all pass too slowly for me, running together into one ceaseless torment. In five days or less, my suffering could have ended. If I had won my battle with Maxie. But that's not how it happened, so here I am, and here I'll be for. . . for a long while. I don't regret any of my decisions from today, and if I had to relive them again they, unlike some parts of my life, would not be a nightmare._

_To be honest, I'm no longer so certain about what Maxie wants with me. It's seeming more likely that he truly does see my incarceration and the pain he causes me as some sort of revenge for ten years ago. But I don't understand what I've done to warrant this. Yes, I did foil his plans, but it was because they were going to end the world. Maybe he didn't know that I held no malice toward him every time we battled. In fact, I used to admire him. It was only his ideas that I had a problem with, but, unfortunately, it is very difficult to separate people from their ideas. My beliefs and Maxie's were enemies, but I never thought that we ourselves were. Perhaps he thought differently._

_Now? I don't know what I think about him. I can see that he is unhappy. That in no way excuses his actions, but it explains them. I would be angry too if I had to spend my life under a volcano for ten years._

_I'm not quite as forgiving and sympathetic as Steven. I know that constantly going at Maxie's throat is not the way to handle this situation, but he's making it difficult to choose the rational option. I imagine that the same is true for Maxie. He's a very logical man, I have seen that, but he is also passionate, particularly in his anger._

_But, who am I. He was right, of course. I know nothing about the man he is now. To assume anything as certain is dangerous._

"Miss May, the time has come."

She didn't hear him come in. Had she been that absorbed in her writing? Hastily she stuffed her notebook beneath the mattress, adjusted her clothes, and slipped her feet back into her sneakers. He held the door open for her. She ducked under his arm and followed him down one floor to his office.

He motioned her up to his desk, but he remained leaning against the closed door. "I will be out of the holocaster's line of sight, but I will be listening."

The _So don't fuck up_ at the end of his sentence was implied. May sat down in the red arm chair in front of the desk and hooked up her holocaster to the computer so she could have a larger viewing screen. She called Brendan and Officer Jenny and joined the calls.

_Deep breaths._

"May?" They both sounded surprised yet relieved.

"Where the hell have you been? We were all worried sick! What happened? Did you find Maxie's base? Where is it?"

"One question at a time, Bren," she said, laughing. "After I talked to you a few days ago, I came out to the islands and started searching. Honestly, I didn't even receive any of your calls. You know the reception out here isn't great. I'm sorry you were worried about me, but I'm fine. You can call off the search for me because I'll be coming back to Mossdeep pretty soon. After I do some hiking and diving first, of course."

"Thank Arceus you're all right, May. We all thought Maxie had got a hold of you! Now that I can rest in peace, I can ask, did you catch him?"

She shook her head. "I found his base, but he's long gone. I just got here today, and I've been looking around for clues. I've pretty much turned the whole place upside down, and there's nothing. I'm going to sleep here and head out in the morning."

"Where are you? I can come pick you up, at least."

"It's fine. I want to take the scenic route. It's been a long time since I've been adventuring, and I want to enjoy the time outside with my Pokémon." May bit her lip. "But I do have a favor to ask of you."

Maxie raised an eyebrow in warning from across the room.

"Of course, what is it?"

"I forgot to pack my charger for the holocaster, and it's dying. I don't think I'll have enough battery life to call Steven, so could you call and tell him what happened and that I love him? And tell Archie to stop worrying."

Brendan grinned. "Yeah, May. See you soon?"

"Yup! I have to come by the labs and see how those Pokémon you're training are doing. And anyway, it's been a while since I've seen Birch."

"See you later, then."

"Goodbye, Brendan."

The call clicked off, and the monitor went black. May slumped back into Maxie's chair, sighing. Goodbye, freedom. Saving her friends' lives was more than worth her own well-being, though, so she didn't regret anything. Sure, there was the chance that they were fine, but May would take nothing as certain with this man.

She jumped when she heard Maxie's voice behind her. "For someone who cannot tell when she is being lied to, you are excellent at deceiving others."

Looking up, she saw his brown eyes staring down at her. His arms were folded over the top of the chair.

"What do you mean?"

"There are no bombs in this base, Miss May."

"I know," she replied, quietly. She had been 97% certain of it, but she would not risk hundreds of lives on that 3% margin of error. She was not mad but simply resigned to the sequence of events that led her here.

Above her, Maxie raised an eyebrow. "You knew and yet you remained?"

May shrugged. "I wasn't willing to bet on the chance for error."

"You are an anomaly," he said. "Twice now you have placed yourself in my hands."

May shook her head. "The second time was to protect lives, and I'm okay with that."

"How can you be certain the lives you thought you were saving are worth it?" Maxie stared down at her. "What if you have placed yourself at my mercy for the safety of hundreds of monsters?"

May closed her eyes. "Stop with the mind games, Maxie. You cannot and will not make me regret my choice. I can accept anything you do to me knowing that my friends are safe, and to be honest, I don't think you really desire to harm me."

"You are sorely mistaken, in that case," he hummed.

"Would you end this villainous act already?" May's voice rose as she began to get angry. Why did he continue to purposefully make himself look bad? Why did he try so hard to destroy any bud of civility between them?

"Perhaps that description applied ten years ago, but not now."

There was no verbal expression that could convey how positively _frustrated_ she was, so she used her body instead. She burst out of the chair and lunged at Maxie with her fists, but he caught her by the wrists. Flailing her arms, May started kicking at him. She tried to push him forward and slam him into the wall. He put one of his legs out and tripped her, sending her crashing to the hard floor. Regretting the brashness of her actions, May shoved him off of her and started scrambling to reach the door.

Maxie recovered quickly, and just as she was turning the knob, his arms constricted around her torso and he dragged her back. She clawed at his hands, refusing to give up, not when he had dragged her back into the war. Maxie used his weight to push her down onto the floor, and then he placed a knee on her stomach and held her wrists down.

"It's your own damn fault that you've gotten yourself trapped here, and the sooner you understand that, the better off you will be, you _hellion!_"He shouted, pressing down on her stomach until it hurt to breathe.

"I know it's my fault, and I accept that I am stuck here!" May snarled. "But I refuse to play along in your imaginary game of good and evil when I didn't do anything to deserve this!"

"It's time you learned that we all receive things we don't deserve, you spoiled, childish brat!"

May brought her knee up to Maxie's groin and, taking advantage of his pain, fled the room. Hindsight showed her that that was a mistake, as she was now lost in a maze filled with grunts who probably actually wanted revenge on her. She didn't _care_, anything to get away from that bastard! May ran blindly through the hallways until she knocked heads with something hard.

Or, rather, someone.

"Sorry."

She looked up, rubbing her forehead, and was astonished to see the grunt girl she had talked to all those days ago, the one who had called her Rose. Her hood was down this time, so May could see her face clearly. Her black hair was cropped short, close to her ears, and her bangs clung to her face like a too tight little black dress. Her eyes were an earthy shade of green.

"You're that girl I bumped into a few days ago, aren't you?" Her lips thinned into a pastel pink line. "And the one Maxie has been holding prisoner."

"Didn't you think that I was some person named Rose?" May asked, confused.

The girl shook her head, covered her mouth as she laughed. "No, I knew you weren't her. I'd never seen you before, so I figured you were trying to sneak in. I called you that because I didn't want you to get caught. Some of the grunts were starting to get suspicious."

"Why would you help me?"

The girl shrugged. "A part of me has always hoped that someone will catch us. Living down here isn't exactly a blast, but at the same time, I'm too prideful to turn myself in." She held out her hand. "I'm Stevie, by the way."

"May." May smiled and shook her hand.

"So, what are you doing running around here like an escaped rodent?"

May sighed. "That's pretty much exactly the case. I ran out of Maxie's office in anger, only to get myself lost."

Stevie hooked their arms together and started off down the hall. "Oh, I've got a few choice words to say on that topic, so why don't we go back to my room and talk for a while? I'll walk you back to your cell when we finish."

"Actually," May said, "I've been staying in one of the hospital rooms now."

Stevie snorted. "You say that like it's an improvement."

"Trust me, it is."

* * *

><p>Stevie's room was surprisingly personalized. May had expected a standardized Magma colored room—that is, red and black—furnished with only the necessities, but that was clearly not the case. The walls of her room were an electrical blue, with lightning strikes, skulls, and flowers painted on top in black and yellow. A massive stereo sat on top of the dresser across from her bed, and there were bean bag chairs, lava lamps, and a small television. All in all, it looked cluttered but cozy.<p>

She offered May a bean bag to sit on. It was the good kind, the type that was fluffy and soft instead of the kind that felt like it was made of actual beans. Stevie tossed her a soda from the mini fridge. May winced at the pain in her arm as she caught it. She'd completely forgotten about her burn wounds until now. Had they been hurting this whole time and she just hadn't noticed, or did her fight with Maxie cause the pain to flare up again?

"So, what did Maxie do to upset you?" Stevie asked, flopping onto her bed and leaning over the side so she could look at May. "I mean, besides holding you hostage and everything."

"My friends noticed that I hadn't called them back in a while, so they sent a search party to look for me. Maxie told me that he had put bombs in the base, and that he would detonate them once the search team arrived. So, of course, I called them and told them to call it off." May's hand tightened around the can, leaving a dent. "I knew there was a high chance that there were no bombs, but I wasn't willing to risk it. I'm even willing to accept my imprisonment here, but Maxie refuses to stop trying to delude me into thinking he's evil."

"Are you serious?" Stevie rolled her eyes. "What's his problem with you anyway? I get that Maxie's not exactly a noble person, but I've never seen him mad enough to mess with someone that badly."

"You mean you don't know?" May asked. "About what happened ten years ago?"

Stevie's face blanked for a moment, and then recognition dawned. "Oh, you're the girl who cleaned up Maxie's mess! I don't think I ever battled with you. I'm a scientist, not a grunt, so we wouldn't have seen each other. Still," she said, "that's hardly anything to try to psychologically scar someone over."

"Well, why does he seem to hate me so much then?" May sighed. "He rejects all my attempts at civility."

Stevie rolled over onto her back, looking at May from where she hung upside down over the edge of the bed. "I like people. They're fun to watch. Ever since I joined Magma, about fifteen years ago, I've observed the people here, so I know a bit about them. Including Maxie.

"How can I put this. . . Maxie feels like he needs a purpose, all the time. His brain needs something to _do_. When we were working on the project of awakening Groudon, I've never seen him more at peace. He put so much of himself into that dream, because I think he genuinely thought he was doing a good thing. You should have seen the care he gave to every research report, every piece of data, precious.

"May, when you foiled his plans of controlling Groudon, you took away his purpose. That's the equivalent of stealing a devout man's faith, or taking away the hope of a man at death's door. That sort of thing kills you from the inside out.

"These past ten years, he had pretended his purpose was keeping his employees safe, keeping us from being discovered. But that's no purpose. For God's sake, we're beneath a volcano, so no one's going to find us. When you walked back in here, you filled a void in his life. Not in a healthy way, mind you, but you gave him a purpose again."

May groaned. "So his reason for living is literally to make my life hell?" He really did want revenge on her? Even hearing it from someone else, she couldn't believe it. None of his actions were consistent with those of a cruel man bent on revenge. . .

"At least hear me out. Maxie isn't a bad person, and I think you're beginning to see that. He has a genuinely kind heart, but it's gotten lost somewhere. I think that his problem is that he's a very mentally and logically mature person, but his emotional capacity is that of a very volatile baby. Other than arrogance, I don't think he knows how to efficiently display and understand his emotions."

The champion sighed. "It sounds like you expect me to do something about this."

Stevie gave her a sheepish smile. "Just. . . Just try to be kind to him. He may not realize what it is yet, but there is a reason he fights so hard to keep you here."

"Meaning?"

"I think your presence brings him peace."

"Well, he certainly has an inefficient way of showing it." She shook her head. It made more since than any of the other theories, but it still seemed not to be an exact fit. "Besides, I have already attempted to treat him well. Each time he refused to reciprocate."

"Just give it another try, May." Stevie urged. "From the sounds of it, your relationship could not possibly get any worse. So what are you afraid of?"

May looked down at her hands. Her nails were chipped from where she'd clawed at him. "I'm afraid of getting to know him. I worry that the cruel persona he presents to me is all that there is to him. It is not a logically founded fear, but this man. . . has dashed my hopes more times in four days than anyone else has in the entire twenty-six years of my life. I am strong, but you can only stand something being dangled in your face and snatched away so many times."

"I understand your reservation, May. I'm not saying that you have to fall in love with the guy or even be friends, but please, please, at least just try to move your relationship with him out of the 'kill on sight' zone. He's not going to let you go any time soon, and if you're both going after each other's throats for the foreseeable future, you'll burn yourselves out."

"Arceus knows you're right about _that_. My hair has been shedding like a cat, and I can't sleep for more than a couple hours at a time," May said. "I never realized that ignoring the truth could be so detrimental." How ironic that that was a lie. She and Norman had learned that well.

Stevie smiled. "Most people don't."

"I cannot thank you enough for all you've said to me. I'm not ashamed to admit that Maxie has driven me to a very dark place these past few days. Do you know I threatened to stab him?"

They both giggled, and then their conversation moved on to other, lighter things. What it was like to be a scientist for Team Magma, what sort of work Stevie did, how May became a Pokémon trainer, what it was like to be the champion.

"You seem to know a lot about Maxie. Were you guys. . .intimate?"

Stevie snorted soda pop out of her nose. "God, no. I'd end up slapping him before the end of our first date, probably. Like I said, I know people because I watch them. But, I have served as his confidant a time or two. Everyone jokes that I'm the Magma lead research scientist _and_ the counselor."

May smiled. "It's a joke with plenty of truth behind it."

"Really, I'm no psychologist—"

Stevie broke off when a buzz at her door signaled a visitor. "Come on in," she called.

"I apologize for interrupting, but I am growing concerned. Have you seen—"

May recoiled in shock when she turned around and saw Maxie standing in the doorway. His lips curved down in displeasure.

"Never mind."

Stevie giggled as she lifted herself off her bed. "Calm down, Max. I got to her before any vengeance happy employees could. She was just a bit lost. I promised I would take her back after we talked, but, ah, you know how chatty I can be."

"Indeed." Maxie said quietly.

"Would you stop being mad at her? She's done—"

"Enough." He snapped. "Come with me, Miss May."

When she hesitated, looking between Stevie and Maxie, he hissed, "_Now_."

May said goodbye to Stevie before allowing Maxie to drag her down the halls back to her hospital room, his hand clamped firmly onto her elbow though she doubted it was strictly necessary. Once they made it to her room, Maxie shut the door behind them and locked it. Sensing that an intense showdown of a conversation was about to take place, May started walking to her bed, but she hadn't even made it halfway when her injured leg gave out beneath her. She landed on top of her burned leg with most of her weight, crying out at the pulses of pain shooting up her leg from her toes to her knee.

Maxie was at her side in an instant. "Can you stand?"

She shook her head, biting at the inside of her jaw to try to keep from moaning. "Does it look like it?"

He untucked May's leg from beneath her bottom and then lifted her in his arms. Though it was only a short distance to the bed, being carried (_again)_ by Maxie felt like an unpleasant eternity. He set her down gently, propped her ankle up under two pillows, and then started unwrapping her bandages.

"Your burn was not severe, and it should be healing, not _worsening_. That is, of course, unless the patient has not been properly caring for her wounds." Maxie's gaze slid up to May's face as he spoke.

"Well. . ." She trailed off. Her silence was the ultimate expression of guilt.

"Have you been elevating your injured arm and leg every night?"

"No," May said, quietly. She looked down at her hands folded in her lap. Maxie seemed to take his doctoring very seriously, so she expected him to be angry that she wasn't taking care of herself. But, then again, maybe not. Why would he care about her?

"Have you been applying the aloe vera cream I gave you, twice a day?"

Well, shit. She hadn't even been applying it once a day. "Not really. . ."

"You have at least changed your bandages often, yes?"

May felt her face turning pink. "Well."

Maxie groaned. "You've been reusing the same wrappings this whole time?"

"It's not like you gave me any new ones!" May snapped.

"Forgive me for not realizing that I'm taking care of a six year old child and not a twenty-six year old woman!"

May closed her eyes and counted to ten several times in her head. Getting angry would not help this situation.

"Could you please just fix it?" May said. "It hurts pretty badly."

"As a patient, you are a doctor's worst nightmare, and I'm not even an _actual_ doctor," Maxie muttered. "But very well. Wait there."

_Yes, like I'm going anywhere._

Maxie was gone for about five minutes, and when he returned, he carried rolls of bandages, towels, and an actual aloe vera plant this time. He dumped them all onto the countertop beside her bed.

"If the swelling continues, pour cool water—_not cold_—onto the towels and put them on your injuries. Change your bandages at least three times a day, and apply the aloe vera every time you change them. After I finish wrapping your leg, I will give you a mild antibiotic in case your wounds have become—Miss May, are you listening?"

May turned her face away from him and covered her mouth with her hands, trying to hide her uncontrollable giggles. "I'm sorry, it's just that you're doting on me like a mother hen, and it's. . .sweet." May Maple had called Maxie a lot of things, but never until this day had she called him _sweet._

The man positively _bristled._ His spine stiffened, and his jaw hardened. "If you are going to continue to insult me, then I'll leave you to care for yourself since you've been doing such an excellent job of it already."

"Sorry, sorry." May said, catching his wrist before he could leave. "I didn't mean it as an insult. I was just surprised, I guess." _It almost makes it look like you care._

"Show me how to treat my burns." She let go of him before things got any more awkward. "Please?"

Maxie reminded her of a Torkoal blowing off steam when he sighed and started cutting off a few leaves from the aloe vera plant. He put on a pair of gloves and snapped the leaves open, scooping the liquid into his hands.

"You can use either the cream or the plant. However, I recommend the plant until your wounds improve from this horrid state," he said as he began applying the gel onto the wounds on her left arm. "Be slow and gentle in your movements to reduce friction."

May tried to focus on his instructions, but damn, it was hard. Maxie being anywhere within her personal space was _weird_. It wasn't that he frightened her—well, not right now—but rather it was just odd to think that someone other than Steven was touching her for an extended period of time.

He finished quickly, showed her how to bandage her arm and leg, and reminded her to keep them elevated. Then, he rifled through one of the many medicine cabinets in the room, returning with a dark bottle and a small measuring cup.

"This should fight off any bacteria your negligence has exposed your wounds to," he said, handing her the cup.

The liquid inside was a puckish green color, and it didn't smell any better.

"I am not drinking this." May pinched her nose closed.

"Stop being a child and take your medicine."

"Or else what?" May couldn't help taunting him. What was he going to do, sit on top of her and force it down her throat? She shuddered. That sounded exactly like what he would do.

"Or else your life will become significantly more unpleasant than you find the medicine in the cup you are holding."

May considered pouring it down the sink, but that was all the way across the room. Even if she was completely uninjured, Maxie would still catch her.

"You have five seconds," he said.

She laughed in his face. "Seriously, Maxie? We're playing this game?"

"Four."

They stared each other down.

"Three."

Neither of them blinked.

"Two."

May was getting nervous. He sounded playful now, but she hadn't forgotten that he was dangerous.

"One."

She closed her eyes and poured the viscous substance down her throat. Not spitting it back out to tremendous willpower on her part. When she opened her eyes again, Maxie was smirking.

"Intimidation is a wonderful thing."

"You, sir," she said, pointing an accusing finger at him, "are a patient's worst nightmare, and you're not even an _actual_ doctor."

May thought he laughed—his mouth moved a little and his lips curved upward—but she didn't hear it over the cacophonous sound of both their stomachs growling. This was the first time she'd had an appetite in four days.

"When was the last time you ate?" May asked. He seemed like the sort of person to work straight through lunch.

"I haven't. Not today."

Yep, he definitely was that type.

"Take me to the kitchen. I'm cooking."

Maxie raised an eyebrow. "I didn't realize you were the one giving orders now. Moreover, how are you going to cook if you have only one fully functional arm?"

May pursed her lips. "Well, who else is going to fix us something to eat at one in the morning?"

The brunette squeaked when she belatedly realized that Maxie had just lifted her up into his arms and started walking out the room. She was too tired to put up much of a struggle, so she settled for making herself comfortable and glaring up at him.

"You seriously need to stop carrying me around so much. I'm not some child," May grumbled, just for the sake of conversation. She didn't really mind being carried. It was no secret that when she wasn't working May was as lazy as a Snorlax.

"Because you've proved yourself so very capable of walking without assistance."

She sighed. "You never did tell me who was going to make food."

"I am."

May looked up at him in amazement. "You know how to cook?"

Thinking she wasn't watching, probably, he rolled his eyes. "Cooking is the simplest of the sciences, Miss May. It is nothing more than edible experimentation and empirical observation."

"Cooking is an _art_," May protested. "You have to put a little bit of yourself into everything you make, or it won't taste as good."

"Self-cannibalism is generally frowned upon in the food industry, Miss May."

She balled her fists to keep herself from shoving a particular finger in his face. "That is not what I meant, you fucking creep."

Maxie shifted her weight so he could turn on the light in the kitchen. It was small considering how many people it had to feed, but it was elegant. The floor was black and red ceramic tile, the walls were a rich burgundy, and all the kitchen utensils and cutlery matched the walls.

"This is my private kitchen," Maxie said, helping her onto a tall stool at the island in the middle of the room.

"That's a bit ironic, considering you don't eat."

May yawned, resting her head on her hands and watching Maxie. He took off his long overcoat and draped it over the back of the chair across from her. She expected him to put on an apron, not because she was mocking him, but because she knew Maxie was extremely nitpicky and OCD. He didn't.

"What is even appropriate to eat at one in the morning?" May wondered aloud. "It's too late for dinner, obviously, but I would feel weird eating breakfast when it's dark outside. Oh, wait, I don't have to worry about that because we're under a fucking volcano, so there aren't any windows."

"Yes, and I wonder whose fault it is that we're here now."

"I am not playing this game with you anymore." May closed her eyes, enjoying the cool feel of the granite countertop beneath her hands. She must have drifted off for a while because when she opened her eyes, there was a plate in front of her and amused criminal sitting across from her.

The crepes smelled good and probably edible. May split them open with her fork, all three of them containing different delicacies in the inside. One was oozing with chocolate; one was a cornucopia of all kinds of fruits and berries; one had a traditional breakfast—eggs, cheese, bacon—rolled up inside. Maxie's plate was the same save that for all the gentlemanliness he boasted, he had started eating without her. She tried the chocolate one first, bringing the fork up to her lips.

She paused. "Did you poison this?"

The last thing she had expected him to do was laugh. "You have been eating my cooking for five days, and you only now think to question whether I had been poisoning your food?"

May blushed and stuffed the food in her mouth. "I had other things on my mind."

She blushed not because of her lapse in reasoning but because Maxie had been cooking for her for five days. Breakfast, lunch, and dinner. He could have just as easily allowed whoever was the actual chef do that, so why?

May didn't trouble herself much over it. She had—reluctant though she was to admit it—delicious food in front of her, and the two of them weren't arguing or fighting for the first time in forever. She was damn well going to enjoy the moment while she could. Their conversation was the clinking of forks against fancily decorated plates, but May didn't mind the silence. Sitting there in the quiet, with probably no one else awake in the Magma base, May began to understand what Stevie had meant about Maxie finding peace in her presence. She didn't think _she_ was calming, but something about this situation certainly was.

May ate all three of her crepes; Maxie ate two and a half.

"I'll wash, and you dry," May said, scooting her stool to rest in front of the sink and then sitting down again.

"Excuse me?"

"I don't know about you," she said, "but my mom taught me not to leave dirty dishes. Now hand me our plates." May flipped the drain off and let warm water flow into the sink. Then she added a little dish washing liquid and smiled at the bubbles. She never thought that simple, commonplace things like washing dishes could make her happy, but it did.

While they waited for the sink to fill, Maxie rolled up the sleeves of his turtleneck sweater, and May attempted to discretely watch him. She didn't think she had ever seen his arms before. Not that it _mattered._ The mind hinges on strange facts when it is awake at one in the morning. His arms were, unsurprisingly, pale. The muscles in his forearms made themselves known but were not overbearing. Fine little hairs covered his arm like grass blades cover a field.

"Miss May, are you planning on taking a bath?"

"Why—_fuck_!" May quickly turned off the water. The sink was barely a droplet away from overflowing onto them and the floor. She flipped the drain switch and let out the extra water.

May washed the dishes in silent, burning embarrassment. So much for _discretely_ looking at Maxie; she had almost flooded his kitchen! When she finished, she looked around the countertop for paper towels. Finding none, she turned to Maxie. Maybe it was time the Magma leader got a little wet.

Without looking up from the plate he was drying, he said, "Before you splash me with filthy dish water, I advise you to consider that the pressurized spray nozzle is on _my_ side of the sink."

Just for a few hours, May forgot that she was in prison.


	8. Relocated

**Author's Note: Wow, I really must thank all of you for your investment in this story! I never expected it to become so popular, but I certainly can't say that I'm not pleased about it. In specific reply to StubblePrince's review: I can definitely see how you thought the relationship in the previous chapter was rushed, and while I do mean for them to eventually move from hating each other to becoming somehow romantic (eventually), I'm trying not to make it happen too quickly. The end of that chapter was sort of the beginning of that start, but, as you'll see in this chapter, it's going to be a very rocky road. Let me know if you still think it feels rushed after this chapter! Also, just a heads up, holiday is over for me now, so I'll probably update both this story and Great Minds about once a week from now on (usually on Fridays or Saturdays). Hope you enjoy the story, feel free to leave comments, and see you next chapter!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 8<p>

Relocated

She wasn't asleep at 3:30 in the morning. Maxie knew she wouldn't be, which is why he wasn't worried about waking her when he buzzed her doorbell for the second time in less than twelve hours. She let him in. She was, at least, in her pajamas at that point. A pair of reading glasses perched on her freckled nose, and behind her, he saw printouts of graphs and data tables scattered across her bed.

She didn't look surprised to see him. "What did I tell you about staying up so late, Max?" She said, returning to the space she had made for herself on her bed. She didn't ask him to sit because she knew he wouldn't. She knew his habits too well.

"Evidently you didn't give yourself the same lecture, Stevie."

She smiled a little, but kept her attention on her work. "I can't sleep. I'm concerned about the data I've collected."

Maxie tensed. "From Kalos?"

"Yes. I'm still reviewing it, but it isn't heading in a very pleasant direction."

"How long do we have?"

Stevie shrugged. "I need a few more days to examine this, run some more simulations. You know I always submit my reports on time, so why did you really come here?"

Maxie smirked. "You know very well what this is about."

"If you'd like to finish the conversation we started yesterday evening, then by all means go ahead."

Always games with this one. He couldn't say he minded. "No, thank you. I'm rather more interested in another conversation entirely."

"Really. Which one?"

"What did you say to Miss May?"

Stevie put down the chart she was holding and turned his attention to him. "Why do you think I said something to her about you? That's quite egotistical of you, Max."

"Before she spoke to you, she was otherwise occupied attempting to gouge out my eyes and succeeding in _kneeing me in the groin_. After I found her here, she was eerily pleasant."

The scientist's face broke out into an even wider grin. "Really? How so?"

"She smiled."

"I'm glad to hear that. In case you hadn't noticed, she was in very bad shape before I found her."

"_What did you say to her_?" He pressed, lowering his voice slightly.

"As your confidant, you wouldn't want me to expose any of the things said between us. I owe May the same privacy, so if you want to know, ask her yourself." Stevie crossed the room to get another soda from the mini fridge. "However, I will say one thing. While I may or may not have supported her idea to try viewing her situation from a different perspective, she alone was the one who actually decided to do it. She could have very well kept on busting your balls every time you two made eye contact, but obviously it seems she chose not to. Maybe you should choose to do the same."

Maxie regarded her for a long moment, and then he clasped his hands behind his back and said, "Goodnight, Stevie."

"Max."

He stopped at the door but did not turn around.

"Keep lying to yourself if you want, but sooner or later you'll realize that you like having her around. I just hope that you come to that realization before she is well and truly gone."

"Her chances of escape or rescue are calculatedly less than one percent."

"Maybe, but when you keep pushing someone away, where else do you expect them to go?"

* * *

><p>May slept until noon, and it was the best sleep she'd ever had. For once, she had no trouble falling or staying asleep. When she woke up, her hair stuck up all over her head, but she didn't care. She yawned and walked across the hall to the bathroom. By now the guards outside her room had gotten used to her comings and goings, and, so long as she didn't do anything suspicious, they left her alone. Halfway down the hall she remembered what she had forgotten and dashed back to her room to pick up fresh bandages and the aloe vera cream. Damn if she was going to let Maxie scold her a second time for being a poor patient. Whether it was the man's doctoring or the pain killers she was taking, her wounds did feel better. She was able to walk with only a minor limp now, and if she needed, she could do light work with her left arm.<p>

May showered, addressed her wounds, and changed into one of the spare outfits she had brought, seeing as the last time she saw her original clothes they were on the body of an unconscious grunt. She tied her bandana around her head and walked back to her room.

Food was waiting for her inside. As was a person.

"Stevie, hi," May said. She didn't know what she was more pleased about: the unexpected visitor or the omelet sitting on the countertop.

"Hello." She smiled, sitting at the small round dining table Maxie had had moved in here when she refused to go back to living in a prison cell. "Max is in one of his moods again, so I came to check on you. I figured you haven't eaten yet."

May shook her head, taking her plate and sitting at the table with Stevie. "I just woke up, actually."

Yawning, the other girl said, "I never slept."

May couldn't chastise her for that. She herself had slept only an hour here and there over the past few nights. "You said Maxie is moody today?"

"Not so much moody as antisocial and completely immersed in his work. I suppose I can understand why that's the only thing on his mind right now."

"What do you mean?" May asked, between mouthfuls of food.

"We're leaving for the new hideout tomorrow."

May's fork clattered onto the tabletop. "What?"

"We were supposed to leave several days ago. Some grunts went over to clean it up and make sure everything was working, and it's been ready for a while now. But, since you set yourself on fire trying to escape—yes, Max told me about that—his plans are off schedule."

She knew they would be relocating, but everyone had been talking about it for so long that she didn't think it would actually happen. In truth. . . May didn't want to leave. Not only because her friends wouldn't be able to find the new base, but also because she had gotten used to living here. She wouldn't say she _enjoyed_ being a prisoner, just that it had become familiar. The hospital room, the bathroom, the battle arena, and the kitchen had become the scope of her new world, and she didn't want to leave them behind. They were the only things that gave her life a semblance of normalcy when everything else had taken a drastic turn for the worst.

A cool hand rested on top of hers. "I know you're anxious about leaving, but it _will_ be okay. After all, you got used to living in this hellhole."

May shrugged. She was still unconvinced. "It's bad enough not knowing anyone at all here, but now I'll be trapped with strangers in a completely new environment that could just end up being as hellish as this one, maybe worse."

"You've got Maxie," Stevie offered.

She glared. "That's the opposite of reassuring."

Stevie laughed. "I'm only kidding. But I'm serious when I say that I'll be here for you, whether you have a problem or you just can't sleep and want some company."

"Thank you." Never had May expected to find such kindness in the heart of someone who worked for Team Magma.

"You should pack your things and get some rest," Stevie advised. "We'll be heading out as soon as it gets dark outside tomorrow night. I need to go do the same, in fact."

She pat May on the shoulder as she passed on the way out the room. "And May? Why don't you take a souvenir of something that made you happy here? It'll remind you of it whenever you feel lonely."

May left the empty plate on the table and returned to her bed. Most of the memories she had here were not exactly fond ones. Except for yesterday—well, more accurately, this morning, when Maxie had been eerily pleasant.

Her eyes wandered across the room as she recalled everything that happened, and eventually they landed on the aloe vera leaves still sitting on the countertop, left over from where Maxie had cut some off.

She smiled. She had her souvenir.

It took May less than an hour to pack. She had only come here with her Pokémon, a few pairs of spare clothes, and food for her and her Pokémon. Maxie did not appear that day or the next, so she passed the time sleeping and writing in her diary.

_July 29._

_This is my last day here. I mean, at this base. I'm still a prisoner. Lately, it hasn't really felt like it, but I'll get to that later. Right now I have to write down everything I can remember about my time here. I hated every minute of it, but it's not something I can let myself forget. I must be able to remind myself of this torture because it means that I can survive anything. So, future me, listen up. Your situation can't be any worse than mine. You'll live through it, just like I am._

_First I felt anger, the kind that bellows out of your heart like dragon breath and incinerates you from the inside out. I burned through ever curse word in my vocabulary in two seconds. How _dare_ Maxie beat me! How could he? I was the champion of Hoenn. I could wring his throat._

_The first night in my cell was the worst. I beat myself up for everything. How could I be so stupid as to not tell someone where I was going? Why did I even go inside in the first place? Arceus, damn my overconfidence! I was not yet used to being a prisoner, so the only thing I thought about was being free. I felt like I was slowly asphyxiating without it. The best way I can describe it is as a sort of claustrophobia. I kept pushing against the walls of my cell but I couldn't get out. I couldn't be free. I would rather _die_ than stay there one more instant._

_I almost did. I knew that when I poured the water on those electrical lines they could spark and catch fire. I didn't care. Staying in that cell was already like being burned alive, so what was the difference?_

_Then, Maxie came, and he shoved life down my throat. I couldn't escape from that cell, so I was content to burn. He held me under a fire blanket and refused to let me. He put balm on my wounds. I calmed down some. The burning for freedom within me cooled down to a warm and constant smolder. The chanting of "escape, escape, escape" in my head quieted from tribal drumming to a pianissimo lullaby._

_The next day, I saw that freedom was within my reach. I reached for it. Maxie slapped my hand away. The lava of my infuriation spewed out of the seething magma chamber of my soul. It burned both of us. It sprayed into my eyes and blinded me._

_That was how she found me, blind and explosive and running through the halls. Stevie. The things she said to me somehow penetrated my blindness. Like the aloe vera, she was a balm to my anger. The flames of my desire to be free died all at once like they were doused in water._

_Now they are just embers, waiting to be rekindled again. I don't think they will be._

_You get used to everything. You drown out the unpleasant parts and focus on the tiny thing that makes you happy so you don't lose it._

_For me, the thing that makes me happy is Maxie when he's in a benevolent mood. Those days aren't many, but I hone in on them and try to ignore the others._

_This is what happiness is for me. I can't lose it. I will go blind again._

* * *

><p>This was it. Time to go. At seven that evening, Maxie came over an intercom and gave them a detailed description of how they would carry out the transfer.<p>

"Departure is at nine. Be prompt, or you will be left behind. There will be thirty-five groups of ten, and we will fly five groups at a time over a span of seven nights. Group one will consist of myself, Stevie Rodgers, the prisoner, admins Lacy Rowlands and Castor Noir, Mack Ernst, Ulanda Tryste. . ."

Maybe this wouldn't be _so_ bad. May got to fly with Stevie, at least. And she had to admit that she was excited to be able to go outside again, stretch her legs instead of being cooped up in this awful hospital room. That reminded her; she most certainly needed to speak with Maxie about her new living arrangements. She damn well wasn't about to go back to sleeping in a cell.

Speak of the devil. He showed up an hour after he announced the instructions on the intercom. May's stomach fluttered like a horde of excited Beautifly. After nearly two whole days of peace, she wasn't sure what to expect from him now. His presence was like falling back into an old, forgotten nightmare.

Not quite knowing what to say, May went with what was familiar to her: sarcasm. "So nice of you to drop by."

"I do have other responsibilities besides babysitting a capricious child."

Today was not one of Maxie's benevolent days.

Changing the subject before she said something she would regret, she asked, "What's in your hand?" It was a black strip of cloth.

"A blindfold."

"For what?" May asked, immediately becoming anxious.

He smirked. "Did you honestly think I would allow you to determine the location of t_wo_ of my bases?"

Her eyes clouded with frustration. "I thought—"

"You thought _what_?" Maxie snarled, narrowing his eyes as he strode towards May. "That we were on amiable terms now?"

She didn't start backing away until he was well into her personal space. "Not amiable, but I thought we were at least above this."

May hit a wall. Maxie kept coming. When he stopped, he was close enough that she had to tilt her head up to meet his eyes, burning like liquid flames.

"Our relationship is nothing more than that of prisoner and captor. Regardless of whatever weak-hearted _nonsense_ Stevie has injected into your head, I am not your _friend_," he spat. "In case you have forgotten, Miss Maple, you are here because I want to make your life _hell_."

She scrubbed at her eyes with the back of her hand. If he thought she would give him the satisfaction of seeing her cry, he was wrong. "Oh, so we're not even on a first name basis now, Dr. Asche?"

"As a prisoner, you don't deserve the privilege."

Her fists squeezed into balls itching to punch him in the throat. "Maybe if you matured a little then you would notice your pedestal isn't that far from the ground!"

"Your disrespect has earned you a place in the dungeons of my new hideout."

May threw a punch at his face, but Maxie caught her fist, twisting her arm into an unnatural position.

She screamed. Tears welled up in her eyes. "Let go of me."

He tightened his grip on her fist before releasing her, his arm returning to his side. "I don't think I've made myself clear," he growled, slowly, like a madman. He grabbed May by the back of the head, his fingers digging into her hair, and yanked her head up. "Your raison d'être is to suffer. Understand?"

May shoved against his chest. "No, I don't, and from the way you're behaving, I don't think you yourself understand either."

He let go and pulled her along by the arm, his hold much too tight. "I think you need an example."

Everyone in the halls scurried out of their way as quickly as physically possible, and with good reason. Maxie looked like he could kill a man. He dragged her downstairs, to the battle arena. The one with the massive fissure marring the ground.

Pulling two poke balls out of the inner pockets of his coat, he said, "These are two of your Pokémon."

No. . .

"Say goodbye to them."

"No!" May tried to wrestle them out of his hands, but he held them above his head where she couldn't reach.

Maxie walked to the edge of the fissure. "Just remember," he said, "that _you_ did this."

He dropped both balls down into the black, yawning fissure.

May shrieked, attempting to launch herself into the fissure to go after them, but Maxie snagged her around the waist and jerked her back.

"Which ones?" She screamed, twisting and kicking and trying to get away. "Which Pokémon were they?"

"Swampert and Pyroar."

May froze in his arms. Swampert was her very first Pokémon, and Steven had brought her that Pyroar back from Kalos.

"Do you see now, you asinine child?" How could he be so calm when he had just murdered two Pokémon? "I intend to repay every injury you have caused me."

"Well, I'm _glad_ I stopped your plans for Groudon because I'd _hate_ to live in a world ruled by you!"

An indolent smile crept its way across Maxie's face. "That is exactly the world you live in."

* * *

><p><strong>Author's apology: Sorry for the cliffhanger! But, then again, not really. The last chapter ended nicely, so I figured I would spice things up a bit. :)<strong>


	9. Insightful

**Author's Note: I'm a little bit early on this week's update, I know, but I'm procrastinating doing actual work. I don't have much to say this time, but I do want to thank you all for your comments. They've been both very supportive and very helpful, and I do hope that you will continue to review and enjoy this story! I suppose you can view this chapter as the end of Maxie and May completely hating each other (it's about time, eh?), but it will obviously be quite a while before they end up together. I'm trying not to rush things, but at the same time, I do want to keep moving the story along because there is an actual plot (besides May being trapped) looming in the distance. I've mostly hinted at it at this point, but that is the direction that I would like this story to go—eventually. For right now, I still want to focus on the relationship between Maxie and May because there are quite a few problems they have to iron out between themselves. Just a warning, in the next few chapters (not so much 10 but definitely 11 and 12) there will be major spoilers for the ORAS games, so if you haven't played the game yet, fair warning. One last thing: I didn't actually mean for Maxie and May's relationship to seem Stockholm syndrome-ish, but I did look up some of the signs out of curiosity and yes it does seem a lot like it. Hopefully these next few chapters will start to remedy that impression because I entirely mean for them to have a healthy, non-creepy relationship (which is why she's 26 and not a child like she is in the games). Okay, I'm done talking now, and I hope you enjoy!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 9<p>

Insightful

_Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me_. Shame on himself, then, he supposed. He had fooled her only once, though he had tried many times. The poke balls he threw into the fissure were both empty.

Maxie sat in his new office, though the view from his desk was unfortunately nothing more than a room of unpacked boxes that had been sent over weeks ago. For a while he had been planning to relocate soon, and Tabitha's capture had only expedited the process. The occurrence was a hapless catalyst. Tabitha had been one of the few people around here whose presence he tolerated out of choice, not necessity. Stevie was another, but she was beginning to become a problem, feeding that optimistic refuse to Miss May. The woman was beginning to pull off the blindfold herself, but he certainly didn't need Stevie hastening the process.

The man had no problem with impersonal, professional relationships, and, in fact, those were the relations in which he excelled. Hell, he could even tolerate people fearing him, _hating_ him. What he could not deal with was any sort of intimacy. It had taken him years to become accustomed to his state of comparative closeness with Stevie, Courtney, and Tabitha. Intimacy begets trust. Maxie was not a trusting person. He was not afraid of betrayal, as he prudently understood that it was only a question of _when_ it would come, not if. Shallow relationships decreased the emotional fallout of the inevitable back-stabbing, so of course they were the man's comfort zone. Plain, simple, cynical logic.

Maxie did not enjoy torturing Miss May. If anything, the act repulsed him. He felt no thrill in seeing her crumble apart in mind and atrophy in body. He did not want revenge, but neither did he want her to leave. Having her here began to patch the holes she had wrenched in his heart when she destroyed his work—and he nearly destroyed the world—ten years ago. Despite knowing this, he refused to allow their relationship to progress. If his work, the love of his life, could be snatched from his hands, then so could she. He would not go through that again.

So he tortured her to keep her at arm's length. She hated him, but at least she was still here. He admitted that it was far from a functional solution. However, it was preferable to the alternative: friendship or perhaps, if given ample time, even love.

Maxie had never been in love. When he was younger, in college, there had been sex partners, mostly for experimentation. He concluded that sex without love was unpalatable at best, and love was distasteful, unwise, and clumsy. It was not something he had ever experienced, and he had no plans to start now. Miss May, whether she knew her effect on him or not, seemed determined to change that. The thought wasn't something he particularly enjoyed dwelling on.

An irritating buzz signaled an end to his introspection. Someone was at the door. Frowning, he called, "Come."

Couldn't those grunts give him just one moment of peace?

Stevie stormed through the door and slammed it behind her. "I cannot _express_ how much of a goddamn _fool_ you are."

Maxie leaned back in his chair, crossing his legs at the ankle. This was going to be a long conversation—lecture—so he might as well make himself comfortable.

"You sent me this e-mail saying I'm 'forbidden' from seeing May anymore, and expect me not to say anything? Well," she fumed, "you're wrong."

"By all means proceed, Stevie. Scream at me until your lungs collapse. It will change nothing."

Maxie by nature was a rather angry man, but he rarely displayed it. His unwavering calmness unnerved his opponents; thus, it was, more often than not, unnecessary for him to use his anger as a weapon. Unlike Miss May, Stevie was no exception to this strategy.

"What in Arceus' name happened between you two today? Obviously, _you_ did something because I know it wasn't May. Unlike _someone_, she's actually trying to be civil!"

"Why do you assume something occurred?"

Stevie's eyes narrowed, alerting him to the fact that they were passing the point of no return. She was the exact opposite of Maxie, calm by nature, rarely angry. When she was, though, she became an avenging angel. Truth was her sword, and it cut deeply.

"I asked around to see if anyone knew where she's staying now." Stevie said. "You put her back in the dungeon."

"I may remind you that that is where I intended for her to say until she torched her cell."

"Oh, come _on_, Maxie. There were hundreds of other cells at that base. You let her stay in the hospital room because you wanted to, and now _you_ have gone and done something stupid and blamed her for it."

Maxie rose from his chair, glaring down his nose at Stevie, but she would not be intimidated. As her employer, he found the trait admirable, but as her adversary, he found it endlessly frustrating. "I would not have had to if you didn't poison her with your weak-hearted optimism."

"Maxie, I'm gonna give you one more chance to tell me what you did, or else I'll take matters into my own hands."

He sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. He could have challenged her, but it was 2:57 in the morning, and he didn't feel like going through this with her. His fight with Miss May was enough for one day.

"I killed her Pokémon," he said.

Stevie didn't so much as blink. "I don't know how you fooled her into believing that, or why. At this point, I don't care. But I know this erratic behavior of yours must end, for both your sakes."

"I see no reason to alter a course of action that does its job sufficiently well."

Her lucent, green eyes flared, and he didn't miss the expletives she muttered under her breath. "_Sufficiently well?_ This situation is bordering on Stockholm syndrome!"

Maxie rolled his eyes. "That description is blatantly hyperbolic, and nothing but a logical fallacy besides."

"I am not exaggerating," she insisted. "I've read enough psychology textbooks to know the signs, and believe me, I can check off _several_ of them. I will refrain from pointing them all out in explicit detail only because that isn't what I've come here to discuss."

"Brevity is the soul of wit, Polonius," Maxie said, smiling wryly.

She scoffed at the allusion, but, nonetheless, it did its job: propelling her to her point.

"Answer me one question. _Truthfully._ If your answer is yes, then I cannot help you. I will do everything in my power to get May out of here and to safety. If your answer is no, then I will try my damnedest to help both you and May out of this hole you've dug."

Maxie regarded her for a long moment, and then said, "Very well."

"Do you like watching her suffer?"

He stayed quiet, staring at the tops of his steepled fingers. At last he said, "No."

Her shoulders relaxed, and she exhaled, a small smile forming on her face. "I already knew the answer to that, but I wanted you to admit it to yourself."

"Unnecessary," Maxie said. "I already came to terms with that conclusion."

Quite some time ago, if the manila folder in his filing cabinet was to be any indication.

Stevie shrugged. "Now that that's out of the way, do you want me to help you fix your nightmare of a relationship? I can't do anything if you won't let me."

That was a question that Maxie had not yet been able to produce an answer for. He would prefer it if they could be civil, but at the same time, he did not want the casual intimacy that that entailed.

"A less destructive relationship would be welcome, however—"

"You have reservations." Stevie rolled her eyes. "I know. Everyone does, but some have more than others. What are yours?"

"I. . . am concerned we will become too close, and then I will lose her, just as I lost all of those years of work I poured into Team Magma."

Admitting this aloud was not easy. For the first time in a long time, Maxie felt. . . nervous. Unsure. Self-conscious.

Stevie seemed to sense this, and he was eternally grateful that she didn't attempt to stoke his ego with attempts emotional, sappy assurances, for she knew such things would be lost on him. "Think of it this way. Would you rather lose her after, say, ten years of fond memories together, or after ten years of a regrettably hateful acquaintanceship?"

"The loss in the latter situation would be easier to recover from," Maxie said.

Stevie groaned. "I wasn't going to tell you this, but I think a minor breach of privacy right now is for the greater good. When I told May to try to be kind to you again, she was afraid. She was afraid you would break her hopes that you are a better person than the mask you wear. She was afraid that you would hurt her again, and you did. She knew that it was possible, but she _still _tried. After all you have put her through, Max, don't you think she deserves at least an _attempt _at the reciprocation of her kindness?

"Look, I'll tell you what I told her. All you have to do is try."

Maxie would be lying if he said he didn't understand how Miss May could be taken in by this woman's words. They were hopeful and appealing, and part of him wanted to believe in them. But it takes more than part of a man to sustain faith. It had to be his best efforts—it had to be all of him—or not at all.

Saying not at all would be the easy, but weak, option. Maxie, leader of Team Magma, the man who had tracked down and awoken Groudon, was not a weak man.

"Very well," Maxie said, "I will try."

"I'm glad to hear that." Stevie smiled. "Now, I can sleep easily knowing that you two won't be at each other's throats for much longer. I need to polish up my reports, so we'll finish this conversation in a few days. Two pieces of advice, however, before I take my leave.

"Stop trying to play the villain. If May has bothered to reach out to you, then it's clear that she knows you can't be all that bad. Secondly, move her to a better place than the dungeons."

"In the morning," Maxie said, in partial reply to both pieces of advice, rubbing his temples. _Arceus, what a migraine. . . _The last thing he wanted to think about right now was Miss May.

"Now."

"It is nigh three in the morning, Stevie."

She shrugged. "Do you really think a girl who believes her Pokémon are dead will be sleeping right now?"

"I suppose not." Maxie was ashamed, but he didn't look away from her eyes.

He would make it up to her. He had to, if he wanted this situation to end well.

Maxie stared through the bars of the cell, a cold, solid reminder of the seemingly insurmountable distance between them. Prisoner on one side, captor on the other. He gripped them in his hands, reveling in their sturdiness. This was the relationship that was safe.

The door quietly retracted when he entered the pass code. This was the relationship that was meaningful, but precarious. There was nothing between them now. Metaphorically, at least. In reality, a chasm filled with Maxie's cruelties separated them, and would continue to do so until May forgave him. _If_ she did. Logic told him that she had no reason to, but his passion made him hope that she did.

He almost didn't see her. She was curled up in fetal position on the floor, her tiny body shivering like she was constantly cold. If she knew he was there, she didn't acknowledge him.

Maxie retrieved May's belt from his coat and released two of her Pokémon. They immediately scurried to her, nudging her in the sides and licking her face. She sat up, rubbed her red eyes, and then she screamed.

"Rin! Haru!" She hugged them both, laughing and petting them and smiling like there had been nothing more she wanted in the world.

Her overwhelming joy slowly faded into an exhausted relief. She continued to pet her Pokémon, but now her attention was on Maxie.

"The one time I chose to trust you. . ." She sounded as disappointed in herself as she was in him.

"Those were not your poke balls," Maxie explained. "They were empty."

He stepped inside the cell but lingered near the threshold. Holding out the four other balls clipped to May's belt, he said, "You agreed not to attempt escape for two months, so I suppose you can have these for now."

All of her teeth showed in that one smile.

"I will have a room prepared for you later this morning. Until then, you may borrow this." Before she could get the wrong idea, he hastily added, "All of the spare blankets have likely yet to be unpacked."

Maxie took off his knee-length overcoat and offered it to May.

"I can't take that. . ."

He did not know when he had become so adept at reading her, but, nevertheless, he heard the unsaid words. _It doesn't feel write accepting kindness from you, of all people. _

"I need to be alone right now." She looked anywhere but at him.

Maxie placed his coat on the small bed in the room and stepped back outside, locking the door behind him.

This time, though, the bars did not seem quite as permanent as he once thought.

* * *

><p>May stared at his coat for several minutes, having an inner battle between necessity and pride. Necessity won. She grabbed the coat, draping it over her shoulders like a cape. It was still warm. She released the rest of her Pokémon, and they filled the room with their cheery sounds.<p>

"I've missed you all so much."

They snuggled in a nest around her, and May laid back down on the floor, her head resting on Haru's shoulder. She covered up with Maxie's jacket and closed her eyes. It smelled like smoke, not enough to be overpowering, Rooibos tea, and cooking spices. It was a nice smell, May decided.

Even though she was tired, she didn't want to sleep. She feared that when she woke up again, this would all have been just a dream, and her Pokémon would be gone. So she enjoyed their company and used the time to sort out some things. Namely, how she felt about Maxie.

He had called her capricious once, but what of him, going from furious to almost gentle in mere hours? And why, why did he keep doing this, putting her through some hell and letting her suffer, only to tell her later that it was a lie? Unless, as she originally suspected, he _wanted_ her to believe that he was a cruel, heartless man bent on revenge. Now that she thought about it, it did seem exceedingly likely that that awful man she hated was nothing but a persona. If he did not care about her, at least a little, then why would he do things like take care of her wounds, carry her when she couldn't walk, and make her crepes? Still, she knew of no good reason for him to want to look evil.

She considered that she was wrong, that maybe it was the other way around. Perhaps he pretended to be kind so he could inflict more pain on her when her guard was down. But which was the real Maxie? The one with the insane, burning eyes who relished making her kneel, or the one who lent her his coat and brought her personally cooked breakfast every morning. Arceus, he was such a confusing man! May couldn't take this see-saw between torment and something almost close to joy. One or the other would be more tolerable than an unpredictable blend of both.

She hadn't thought of this idea for a while now, but she needed to try talking to Maxie about it. Admittedly, the idea of exchanging thoughts with the man seemed odd (with Steven it came so naturally), but it couldn't hurt to try.

Eventually, after hours of mentally rehearsing what she would say to him, May fell asleep, clutching the soft fabric of Maxie's jacket in both hands.

She woke to someone gently shaking her shoulder. Pulling the coat over her head and rolling over, she mumbled, "Go away, Steven."

The shaking didn't stop. "Think again, Miss May." The voice sounded highly amused.

All at once, recognition struck like lightning, and May jolted awake. Maxie was kneeling beside her, and her Pokémon eyed him warily.

"You have got to stop waking me up like this," May complained. "What time is it?"

"Noon. Your room is ready, unless you would rather stay?"

"Funny." May jumped up, calling her Pokémon back and putting their balls back on her belt. "Here's your coa—how many of those things do you have?"

She certainly hadn't expected to see him wearing an exact clone of the coat he had given her last night.

He took it, draping it over his arm. "They're nice coats," he said, smirking.

Yeah, they were.

"Come with me."

Maxie led her up five floors, navigating the winding halls with ease even though they had only been here for one night. The base was similar in layout to the old one, right down to the connecting chambers and sloping ramps, but this one seemed larger and more carefully designed. There were paintings, flower vases, and statues in nearly every hallway, and the lighting was brighter, considerably less dingy. The floors were made of decorative black and red mosaics, with images of the Magma M, volcanoes, and mountains. The walls were similarly fancy, and there were even windows. Deep red Magma flags waved gently overhead, blown by the current from the air conditioning. Unlike the lower levels, the fifth floor was comparatively void of miscellaneous, unmarked doors and winding walkways. In the wing they stopped in, there were only two doors, facing each other on opposite sides.

"This is a section of the admins' floor. However, since the majority of them are presently in jail, there is ample room. On the left is your room, on the right is the bathroom." He gestured for her to go look inside. "If that will be all. . ."

"Wait!"

She didn't grab his wrist this time, but she didn't need to. Her shout caught his attention.

"Sorry, um." May hadn't been this awkward since she was a teenager. "Can we talk? Please."

He sighed. "I suppose this has been long overdue."

They went inside May's room, and she was momentarily distracted by how extravagant it was. There were windows, but she hardly noticed them among all the other treasures: a king sized bed with a black canopy, a walk in closet fully stocked with clothes that all appeared to be just her size, a desk, and a flat screen television. Her own room wasn't even this nice!

"How much money do you have?"

May didn't realize she'd said that aloud until he answered.

"Far too much for one man to reasonably use in several lifetimes." Was she imagining that smirk on his lips?

She could believe that.

They sat in the deep red arm chairs in front of the fireplace. _Now I almost don't want to leave here. . ._

Silence pervaded. Both of them knew what needed to be said, but neither of them knew how to say it.

Someone had to.

"Do you really hate me?" May asked, quietly.

"No," he said, "no I do not, Miss May."

That was a start. "Well, I don't hate you either. I'm still furious about everything you've done, and I haven't forgiven you. I don't even know if I can, but if you're going to keep me here. . . Truce?"

May held out her hand. Warm fingers grasped it and shook.

"Truce."

Staring into the unlit fireplace, he said, "I will not explain my despicable behavior at this moment, but I will seek forgiveness for it. I cannot say that I never meant to hurt you. However, that does not mean I took pleasure in watching you suffer."

She wanted to know why he thought torturing her was necessary if he didn't enjoy it, but she respected his privacy. He would tell her when he was ready, just like she would forgive him when she was ready. There was no rush. After all, they had the entirety of the unforeseeable future together. For some reason, that thought bothered her less than it had several days ago.

"Thank you for saying that." May said. "I'm sorry for kneeing you in the groin. That's about it though."

Maxie made a sound that was neither completely a snort nor a chuckle. "How considerate of you to apologize to my genitals."

May went red in the face. "I didn't mean it _that_ way! I swear, I'm going to kick your ass one of these days."

He rolled his eyes. "As if you could."

She smiled at the insult. It seemed like everything was almost normal between them. Today was one of his good days. . .but how long would it last? She was still a long way off from trusting him.

"Hey, Maxie?" She ventured, nervously.

"Yes?"

"Listen." May folded her hands in her lap, staring down at them so she wouldn't have to meet his eyes. _Is it the right time to say this? No, I can't worry about that. Better to take the chance now while I have it. _

"Loyalty, justice, fairness, and all those other values that you probably scoff at—yes, like you're doing right now—are important to me. I won't hesitate to put my life on the line for someone I love, or even for a stranger in need. However, these things, they don't make me an angel. I'm not any better than you or anyone else because of my convictions. As for you, on the other hand, you have done some awful, misguided, and, in my book, just plain wrong things in your life. I realize all too well that we don't follow the same moral creed, but that doesn't mean that you don't follow one at all. These bad things that you've done, they don't make you any worse than me or anyone else. They don't make _you_ a bad person, and I truly believe this. How can I be certain is what you're probably thinking, especially after all the cruelty you've shown me. Call it a flaw or a gift—I see it as both—I'm one of those people that can find something positive in others. Even if I need a scanning electron microscope to see it, I'll keep looking until I find it. That's why I'm sure that there are things, people, you care about, and that are important to you. There are probably people in your life that you would be willing to die for, too.

"For all our differences, and they are many, we have a lot in common. We're both just humans, trying to do the best that we can do."


	10. Shocked

**Author's Note: Sorry that I'm rather late on updating. It is, however, the holidays, so my schedule is obviously more hectic than usual, so I'll update whenever I can. I do want to say thanks to everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited this story. It truly does mean a lot to me, and I hope to continue to see such kind support in the future! Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to all!**

* * *

><p>Chapter 10<p>

Shocked

The gentle murmur of steady rain woke May, far earlier than she had planned to wake. It sounded like the calming crash of oceanic waves against the shore, except more subdued. Gray, watery light streamed in from the windows, curtains opened, as it just began to lighten into day outside. Stretching her muscles, May untangled herself from her team of Pokémon still sleeping in the bed, and crossed the large room to the window, grabbing her bathrobe that hung on the bedpost on the way. Smiling, she sat in the window seat and stared into the rain. It calmed her, reminded her of the route just beyond Fortree where it constantly stormed. She still remembered the time she had met Steven there, when he lent her his Devon Scope so she could see that damned Kecleon in hiding. After that, they sat on the bridge for nearly three hours, discussing the Devon Scope and all of the company's other ingenious inventions besides. She'd caught a nasty cold the next day from being in the rain too long, but it was unarguably worth it. Sighing, she wished Steven could be like that again. Impromptu and goofy and not spending his every waking moment with some or other stone cold rock. May let her head fall softly against the cool windowpane. The nostalgia for her adolescence wrenched her heart, hurt her more than any pain Maxie had caused her. That age was not always a perfect, happy time, but those were her golden years. In those first 18 years of her life, she had accomplished more than what some could in an entire lifetime. And, now? Now she was just. . . stalling. The thought that her life wasn't going anywhere _scared_ her. At only twenty-six, she already felt like it was seeping through her fingers, no matter how hard she begged and pleaded for it to stay. At only twenty-six, she was acutely conscious of her own mortality. Coughing up a sob, May curled into herself, holding on so tightly that her nails pressed into her flesh.

"Does being here displease you so?"

May started. She had been so self-absorbed that she hadn't noticed him enter until he was standing behind her, hands clasped behind his back in that peculiar way of his. Aromas from a plate of pancakes and a cup of orange juice wafted over from where he placed it on her desk, but she had no appetite. Indeed, she was too distraught to even care that she, still in her pajamas, was horribly underdressed compared to him, pristine and severe as always.

In response to his question, she shook her head, biting her lip. "No, it's not that. This room is infinitely nicer than my own, so of course I can't complain. Anyway, since I gave you my word not to try escaping, that isn't what I'm thinking about."

"Then what?" He pressed. He was persistent even in what May supposed was his kindness.

"You're obviously not going to let me out of this conversation." Sporting a morose smile, May scooched over on the cushioned window seat. "Might as well have a seat, then."

Maxie smirked at her admission of victory, his knees brushing against one of her legs as he sat. May was quiet for a long time. She occupied herself with picking at loose threads on her pajama shorts and almost forgot that he was still there. To her surprise, he was patient with her, seemingly content to sit with her until she was ready to speak.

"It's . . . silly," she began. "Don't worry about it. I'll be fine."

"Do not be so swift to dismiss your problems," Maxie chided. "In all probability, I have once been where you are now."

May looked up at him, her eyes widening as the softer meaning of his words floated down to her as if translated into her own language. _You are not alone._ She smiled a little as she pushed her frizzy bangs out of her face.

She spoke slowly, nervous about unloading her problems on the capricious crime syndicate leader. Why would he care? Then again, his actions thus far had only been ones of concern.

"This morning, the rain reminded me of when I was sixteen, and. . . it made me realize that my life isn't _going_ anywhere. Steven is chasing after the secrets of a form of evolution that may very well change the world, Brendan is working on cataloguing the ancient Pokémon that appeared when Groudon was awoken, Archie is rounding up criminals like nobody's business, and then. . . and then there's me. I haven't done anything remotely important since I saved the world and became Champion. I haven't even had any good challengers in Arceus knows how many years." She pressed her face in the sleeves of her bathrobe to hide her tears. "I'm twenty-six, but I feel like I'm eighty."

Warm hands encircled her wrists and gently tugged her hands down from her face, folding them in her lap. Now unhidden, tears streaked down her face. "It's stupid, right?" May hiccupped. "What could the girl who saved Hoenn possibly have to complain about?"

"No, it's far from foolish."

May wiped her face on the cottony sleeves of her robe. "What?"

"She has the foremost right of us all to gripe," Maxie said, "for she must bear not only her burdens but those of the world."

"Maxie. . ." She didn't know what to say to him. Mocking, apathy, and cruelty, she could have dealt with, as she expected them, but not this kindness, this understanding.

He said, "I told you this ten years ago, but perhaps it is time for a reminder. It may not be apparent to you, but I deeply regret that you have to bear the consequences of my inane actions. Now that you contemplate the course of your life, I cannot help but wonder what would have been the outcome had not my own disaster intervened."

She found herself giggling at his apology. It was the only way she knew how to process his unanticipated benevolence this early in the morning. "I'm not blaming _you_for what happened _then_, Maxie. I'm blaming myself for what is happening now. Don't get me wrong, I still get nightmares about being in that cave with Groudon, but those were the best years of my life. Now, I guess I just feel like there's nothing else to do once you've saved the balance of the world."

Maxie smirked. "I am afraid I cannot empathize with you there. For the man who disrupted the natural balance, there is entirely too much to be atoned for. At times it is nauseatingly overwhelming."

"Hm," May said, "I never considered what it must have been like for you. It appears that we're opposite sides on the same miserable coin, while the rest of the world has long forgotten the awful things that transpired that day. . ." Shaking her head, she went on. "You said that you were going to repent for your actions, so how? What have you been doing these past ten years?"

The man's jaw clenched, and his hands curled tightly into the fabric of his suit pants.

"Conversation for another day?" May ventured.

"Wise observation," he replied. He sounded amused, but there was an edge to his voice that had been absent before she posed her question. She supposed that that subject was another currently off limits to her. Oh, well. Considering his miraculous streak of generosity, there were plenty of other things for May to ask.

"Why did you come?" She said. "You don't seem the type to make frivolous house calls."

Standing, Maxie pulled from his coat pockets something she expected to never see again: her holocaster. "As you agreed to a moratorium of your escape attempts, you may have this for now."

May blinked in surprise at his extended hand, but quickly recovered herself before he had the chance to tease her. She took the device, careful to make sure their hands didn't touch in the process. "That implies a level of trust, you know, so does that mean you. . . ?"

A low groan erupted in the Magma leader's throat. "Do you intend to make me say it, you damnably perceptive woman?"

May grinned, laughter tumbling forth from the cavern of her mouth. "After all you've put me through, absolutely."

Maxie stalked forward, glaring down at her. "In that case, you will find I do not yield so easily."

"Is that a challenge?" She sprung to her feet and met his gaze with her chin held high.

"If you interpret it to be so."

"Oh, I do."

Shaking his head, he turned his back on her. "You are setting yourself up to fail, Miss May."

She shrugged and returned to her seat on the bench. "You'll say it, one day. I can wait. And even if you don't," she added, "it still means something to me, all the same. Either way I see it, I win." She winked at the image of his stiff back.

He ignored her comment—to be expected, as he wasn't the sort to engage in gushy expressions of sentimentality—and instead returned to the subject of his coming. "You are free to explore this base as you please, so long as you do not disturb locked doors or attempt to leave. I have no doubt that you and your Pokémon will be able to handle yourselves against any vengeful personnel. However, just in case."

Facing her once again, he pulled something else out of his coat pocket. "May I?" He said, holding up the necklace in askance.

"Oh, um, sure."

He moved behind her, draped the necklace around her neck, and clasped it on. She tried not to think about the way he had gently swept her hair aside and how his fingers had touched her neck. _You've got a boyfriend, May! This means nothing. You know that. _Looking down at the pendant, she gasped. An orange button in the shape of the Greek Omega was set into a faceted, brilliant ruby that appeared to be alive with crackling sparks of electricity. It gave her finger a weak shock when she touched it, and with it resting next to her heart, she felt as though the current were pulsing throughout her body.

"Maxie, wow, this is—"

"A functional piece of technology," he supplied.

"Beautiful," she breathed. Then, feeling blush creep into her face, she added, "But yes, of course it's a scientific marvel, too. What does it do?"

"Should you ever find yourself in need of aid, simply press that button, and your location will be transmitted to every electronic device that I possess."

May snickered. "Isn't that somewhat excessive?"

He shrugged, placing his hands behind his back once more as he moved toward the door. "I should hate for anyone else to capitalize on my prey."

"Maxie, I think your façade is showing again." Oh, how difficult it was to restrain the urge to hurl something at the back of that idiotic head of his. _But I think I have a better idea. _"Let's play a game."

"I'm listening." He leaned against the closed door and folded his arms.

"Every time one of us catches the other posing a façade, the liar gets a point. Whoever has the most points at the end of the game loses."

"Interesting," he mused, a devilish smirk taking over his face, "but let us make it even more so with a prize for the victor."

May didn't like the sound of that. "And that would be?"

"The losing party is at the winner's mercy for exactly twenty-four hours."

"Absolutely not. That sounds positively horrible!" Well, it would be _heaven_ for her if she won, but if Maxie was victorious. . . She shuddered to think about how he would spend that day.

His dark eyes goaded her into his gaze and did not release her. "Are the stakes too demanding for you, child? Pity. I am disappointed to see that your irrational fear still commands you."

"Oh, shut up. I know precisely what you are trying to do."

"Do enlighten me, Miss May."

"You are not going to cajole me into something I don't want to do." Sighing, she crossed the room to him and held out her hand. "That being said, I accept the terms."

"Splendid."

Shaking hands with Maxie, May imagined, was not unlike bedding Lucifer. It was obviously wicked, but at the same time so enthralling. "Well, Mr. Asche, let the games begin."

* * *

><p>"Do you have clearance to be here?" The voice that addressed her over the intercom, laced with a thick Russian accent, sounded irritated at the intrusion.<p>

"Yes," May replied, from the other side of the stainless steel door.

"On whose authority?" He questioned, still sounding quite unconvinced.

"Maximilian Asche's."

"Right." The voice chuckled. "Piss off before I call security, young woman."

"My name is May Maple," she said, smiling sweetly into the camera.

Those, it seemed, were the magic words, for no sooner had she spoken them then the doors swished open to admit her. She had to shield her eyes from the blinding fluorescent lights as she entered. Once her vision adjusted, she noticed the tall, lanky man standing in front of her with his hand outstretched.

"My apologies, Dr. Maple. Maxie informed us you might be interested in touring our facilities, and we are to afford you every courtesy." He shook her hand, the muscles beneath his thick, white gloves gripping her with strength shocking for such a thin man. "Dr. Razumikhin Umir."

"Please don't feel the need to be polite in front of me," May said. Somehow, this situation felt wrong. Only a few days ago, she had been a prisoner in a dungeon, and now Maxie was giving her special treatment as though she were a queen. _Arceus, this man. ._ . "I think I prefer the man who told me to piss off, anyway."

His laughter was more of a deep, rumbling vibration than any sort of audible sound, and May decided that it was a nice laugh. It reminded her of Norman. "I like you, kid." He said, tossing a lab coat, gloves, and goggles her way. "We're going to have to kill some time in my office before I can give you a tour. Unfortunately, it seems all of our departments are running dangerous experiments today, and if you get injured Maxie will no doubt have my head."

"What sort of experiments?" May asked as she geared up into her safety equipment and followed Umir into what was less an office and more a personal laboratory.

"For one, our physicists are adapting the Magma Suit to allow humans to travel into space using only their Pokémon. They are currently in the process of testing the prototype in simulations, so it's best not to disturb them."

"Whose idea was it to do this?" May asked, glancing at the dozens of monitors with numbers and code rapidly scrolling across the screens. "Do you know how much more information we could collect if we were able to move that freely through space? Amazing."

"We were given the lead in this project, as well as access to Devon's Infinity Energy, at the behest of Mossdeep Space Center," Umir replied. "This information is all on file, should your curiosity desire verification."

Mossdeep Space Center and Devon Corp working with _Team Magma_? Just what, exactly, had Maxie been up to these past ten years? "How long has this experiment been going on?" May asked, rather distractedly, as she leafed through the mass of papers bulging out of their folders in the filing cabinet.

Umir tapped a pen on his desk and hummed in quiet thought. "So long that I cannot remember a time where we had not been working on it. Seven, eight years, I'd wager."

"Why would Mossdeep come to—"

A particularly fat stack of papers slipped through May's hands. She sat frozen on the floor, staring down at the Manila folder in cold, clammy horror. Nausea overtook her and threatened to make her stomach disgorge its contents.

"What is it?" Umir asked, stepping carefully over the papers to stand by her side.

In bold black letters were written the words, _**PROJECT AZOTH**_. Beneath it, in smaller font, appeared the initials **L.L.**

"Who is L.L.?" May whispered, her voice and body shaking all over.

"What's the matter?" He leaned down to touch her on the shoulder, but she immediately pushed his hand away.

"_Who is L.L_.?" She roared. "_Who was the one responsible?_"

One of the man's large hands went through his dark hair, sweeping it back from his eyes. "I am not permitted to say. Only, know that he is among the greatest scientific minds of our time."

May wobbled to her feet with the assistance of Umir's desk and began walking mechanically to the door without putting the file back in its proper place. She didn't even pause to remove her protective gear.

"Dr. Maple! Where are you going?" His voice echoed behind her, but the sound was distorted in her haze. "What's wrong?"

"I-I'm sorry, but I. . . I need to go," she said, pushing her way out of the room. "I just remembered something—no, _someone_—very important to me. . ."

As soon as she made it out of the labs, she sprinted back to her room and fell to the floor, dumping the contents of her backpack onto the carpet. Trembling fingers scattered the items about, picking through the mess, searching. Where? Where were they? A glint of red beneath a pair of gloves caught her eye, and she snatched it out, sighing in relief.

She cradled the pair of red glasses in her hand and burst into ugly tears.


End file.
